Yum!, KFC hint at new flagship restaurant, plans to move 100 jobs from Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (FOX 56) — Colonel Sanders is on the move. On Tuesday, Yum! Brands announced plans to designate two headquarters in the U.S., one in Plano, Texas, and one in Irvine, California. 

Yum! Brands will relocate around 100 corporate employees from Louisville to Texas.

The KFC Foundation and Yum! Brands will keep corporate offices in Louisville, and Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill will remain headquartered in Irvine, California. 

“These changes position us for sustainable growth and will help us better serve our customers, employees, franchisees and shareholders,” said David Gibbs, Yum! Brands chief executive officer. “Ultimately, bringing more of our people together on a consistent basis will maximize our unrivaled culture and talent as a competitive advantage. I’m confident this is another important step in growing our iconic restaurant brands globally.” 

According to a news release, the KFC U.S. corporate roles will transition to the Plano campus over the next six months, while 90 remote positions are expected to transition to their new campuses over the next 18 months.

Yum! Brands said employees will receive relocation and transition support during the process.

The company also announced a $1 million endowment to the College of Business at the University of Louisville to fund Yum!-sponsored scholarships for students throughout Kentucky and further support the Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence.

“To commemorate its deep-rooted history in Kentucky, Yum! is strengthening its commitment to advancing higher education locally,” read the statement in part.

It wasn’t all business though; Yum! included a promising sentence at the end of their release.

“Additionally, KFC will continue its brand presence in Louisville with the ambition of building a first-of-its-kind flagship restaurant,” the release concluded.

In December, KFC launched Saucy a spinoff of the KFC formula located in Orlando. Saucy focuses on boneless chicken tenders and designer sauces, and broke away from KFC’s southern roots with a flashy

“With Saucy, we’ve taken KFC’s famous Original Recipe® and amplified it with a brand-new concept that lets consumers play with flavor,” Christophe Poirier, KFC’s chief new concept officer, said in a previous statement. “You can pick a combo, choose a flight of sauces or, my personal favorite, mix sauces and sides to create your perfect meal.”

It is unclear if the cryptic statement relates to Saucy, another spinoff restaurant, or something even bigger joining the Yum! roaster.