35 Facts About Papa John's

Papa John's restaurant was founded in 1984 when "Papa" John Schnatter installed an oven inside a broom closet in the back of his father's tavern, Mick's Lounge, in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Papa John's's pizzas proved sufficiently popular that a year later he moved into an adjoining space.

Papa John's describes the company's procedures as an "unexplained and heavy-handed way" to cut ties between him and the company that he founded.

Papa John's agreed to remove the "acting in concert" provisions from its "poison pill" plan that prevented Schnatter from communicating with other company shareholders.

The next year, Papa John's introduced the Shaq-a-Roni, a pizza dedicated to O'Neal.

Related searches

In September 2020, Papa John's announced plans to establish a new headquarters in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

In November 2021, Papa John's announced it was rebranding its logo and store locations.

In March 2022, Papa John's suspended its business operations in Russia in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, but independent franchisee-owned locations remained open.

Papa John's primarily takes carryout and delivery orders, although some restaurants have tables and chairs for dining in.

Papa John's operates 246 "company owned stores" under joint ventures and 35 units in Beijing and North China.

In January 2002, Papa John's became the first national pizza chain to make online ordering available to all of its U S customers.

Papa John's operates throughout Ireland, with its head office at Ballybrit, County Galway.

Papa John's has over 50 locations and operates mobile units around the country.

Papa John's expects to open at least 100 restaurants just in the province of Madrid, as well as expanding to other regions across Spain.

Papa John's operated in Russia and Belarus with plans to expand to several other European and Central Asian countries.

In 2018, Papa John's opened their first restaurant in Kazakhstan, which became the 46th country in the world where the chain is represented.

Papa John's operates in 13 Latin American countries, including Colombia, Chile, and Mexico.

Papa John's entered the Indian market in 2006 with its first store opening in Noida, Uttar Pradesh with an aim to open up 100 stores in India.

When Papa John's started in 2006, Domino's Pizza already had 126 branches.

In 2018, Papa John's sold ownership of its 34 corporate-owned locations in Beijing, shutting down their operations in China.

Papa John's opened its first store in Lahore, Pakistan in early 2019.

Papa John's is the official pizza supplier of the Olympic Speedskating Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

In November 2006, Papa John's signed with ESPN Regional Television to become the title sponsor of the annual PapaJohns.

In 2010, Papa John's signed an agreement to be the Official Pizza Sponsor of the National Football League and Super Bowls XLV, XLVI and XLVII.

In 2011, Papa John's became the official Pizza Sponsor of the NFL in Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

Related searches

In July 2013, Papa John's announced it had become the Official Pizza Partner of The Football League in the UK.

The Papa John's name was taken off the stadium in July 2018, after Schnatter's resignation from the company.

In 2020, Papa John's became the main sponsor of the EFL Trophy, a football competition for lower league and under-23 clubs in England.

Papa John's received attention in May 2008 when a Washington, D C franchise distributed T-shirts making fun of Cleveland Cavaliers star player LeBron James at a playoff game against the Washington Wizards.

John Schnatter's claim that a reverse in NFL viewer ratings had directly led to decreased same-store sales across Papa John's franchises was extensively reported in November 2017.

Papa John's disavowed statements by white supremacist groups expressing support for the brand in the wake of Schnatter's comments.

Forbes magazine reported that a media agency working with Papa John's severed its relationship with the company following the report.

In 1997, Pizza Hut filed a lawsuit against Papa John's based on a series of advertisements that compared the ingredients of Papa John's and its competitors.

Pizza Hut successfully argued that Papa John's slogan did not constitute statements of literal fact – that "fresher ingredients" do not necessarily account for a "better" pizza.

In July 2016, Panera Bread filed a lawsuit with the U S Eastern District Court in Missouri accusing Papa John's of stealing digital trade secrets and proprietary data management strategies by hiring Michael Nettles, a former Panera executive who was in charge of the chain's corporate digital technologies deployment.