LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Papa Johns International is listing its corporate office in the eastern Jefferson County suburbs for sale about two years following the company’s decision to move many corporate functions to a new headquarters in Atlanta.
After the pandemic upended work habits, “the current campus setup no longer fits the needs of our Louisville-based workforce,” CEO Rob Lynch told Louisville employees in a memo sent Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by WDRB News.
Even as the pizza company looks to downsize its Louisville footprint, Papa Johns remains committed to “maintain(ing) a corporate hub in the Louisville Metro area,” according to the memo.
“Louisville has been home to Papa Johns for almost 40 years and is critical to the company’s success,” Lynch wrote.
The company plans to lease back at least a portion of the corporate campus, but could also establish a different office for certain teams depending on the buyer’s preferences, Lynch wrote.
"This process could take several months or even up to or longer than a year," he said in the memo.
The corporate campus, built in the late 1990s at a cost of $30 million, is a monument to the era when Papa Johns was ascendant as a national player in the franchise pizza business. The main three-story office building is set at the end of the highly manicured Papa John's Boulevard off Bluegrass Parkway.
Papa John's founder John Schnatter was known to sometimes commute to the corporate office via helicopter from his own a few miles away in Louisville's Anchorage.Â
Louisville’s centrality to Papa Johns has been on the wane since 2018, when the company cut ties with Schnatter.
After a recording of his using racial language on a conference call was leaked, Schnatter apologized and later said his remarks were taken out of context.
Schnatter held about 30% of Papa Johns’ stock in 2018, but he liquidated his stake following his ouster. Schnatter's exit from the scene left few with any Louisville ties at the top of the company.
Lynch is based in the Atlanta area, where he ran the Arby’s sandwich chain until being hired by Papa Johns in 2019.
Lynch's initial plan to move to Louisville didn't materialize amid the pandemic, the company has previously said.
In 2020, Papa Johns announced "a new global headquarters" in Atlanta to house corporate functions such as human resources, menu innovation, development and communications.
“We're excited to expand in Atlanta – a vibrant city that’s home to several (quick service restaurant) brands and provides incredible access to a deep, diverse talent pool,” Lynch said in a 2020 news release.
The move was a blow to Louisville, where Papa Johns grew from scratch into one of the nation’s largest pizza chains.
"It does hurt," Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, who ran economic development for then-Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, told WDRB News at the time. "It’s a local company in which we have a lot of pride."
The company in 2020 said its information technology, legal and supply chain corporate teams would remain in Louisville, which Lynch reiterated in the memo to employees on Wednesday.
At the time, Papa John’s said it had about 750 non-restaurant employees in Louisville. That includes not only white-collar jobs, but the company’s Quality Control Center, which is also part of the corporate campus.
The Quality Control Center, one of several around the country, produces dough and handles distribution for restaurants.
The Louisville employee base hasn’t changed since 2020, Papa Johns spokeswoman Madeline Chadwick said Wednesday.
Schnatter, for his part, decried the move in a statement Wednesday.
“This is another sign that the company I founded, Papa John’s International, has abandoned our hometown of Louisville, KY. Since Louisville was the heart and soul of our company, it’s an unfortunate and unnecessary decision by company management," he said.Â
“Far too many companies forget their roots and lose their identity in the process. This is clearly the case for Papa John’s. Nonetheless, my heart felt appreciation goes out to the entire Louisville community for the legacy we built together.”Â
