This week’s top stories in Nation’s Restaurant News are Pizza Hut is closing several locations in Indiana, Ohio. Pizza Hut has suddenly closed 15 locations in Northwest Indiana and several around central Ohio. The Times of Northwest Indiana first reported the Northwest Indiana closures after discovering employee social media posts over the weekend, noting that all of the locations are owned by EYM Group.
In other news: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of Starbucks in a dispute between the coffee chain and the National Labor Relations Board over the firing of seven Memphis employees.
The self-described “Memphis Seven” were allegedly fired for working overtime and violating safety and security regulations in 2022 when employees at the stores where they worked were attempting to unionize. But the NLRB argued that the firings were retaliatory because the employees had participated in a union drive and other employees who did not participate in the drive were not fired.
Also, McDonald’s has partnered with IBM to test an AI-driven automated order taking (AOT) system at its drive-thrus, and the test is coming to an end after two and a half years. National Restaurant News Our sister publication Restaurant Business Friday reported the news, citing an internal email sent to franchisees by Chief Restaurant Officer Mason Smoot. McDonald’s has announced it will end the test. N.R.N.“After careful consideration, McDonald’s has decided to end its current global partnership with IBM for AOT at the end of this year.”
See what else was trending on NRN.com this week.
