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Success Stories: Kent ColvinKent Colvin tends to downplay the fact that his Pizza Hut restaurants have achieved 45 consecutive years of positive same-store sales growth. Forty-five years? Kent, a second generation franchisee, says even he didn't know his company had hit such a milestone until he was invited last year to speak at a gathering of Pizza Hut operators in Chicago to explain his success. 
"It's not something I wake up thinking about every morning," he says. "What I tend to focus on instead are the processes and disciplines we have in place. We execute against those every day and when you do that, the growth follows. "The 45-year thing has taken on a life of its own, but it probably means more to Pizza Hut than it does to us, actually," he continues. "We're proud of it but if it goes away next year, it goes away. We're going to continue to focus on the basics of the business: Keep it simple, show up every day, and take care of the customers." Kent's DELCO in Garden City, Kansas, is the highest volume delivery unit in the country. This year the store is expected to generate over $2 million in sales - in a town of 28,000 people with two other restaurants. Of course that's not a big problem because Kent owns them, too. Kent followed his father, Bill, in the business. Bill Colvin and a partner opened the first Pizza Hut in Liberal, Kansas, in 1962. Theirs was the 18th Pizza Hut ever built. The business has grown to the point now that the company owns 76 Pizza Hut restaurants in five states. Kent's son joined the company last year in a marketing position. "We're grooming for the third generation," Kent says. |
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