NPC International was one of the largest restaurant franchisees and was one of the largest restaurant operators of any kind in the United States.[1] NPC was the largest franchisee of both Pizza Hut and Wendy's, and owned more than 1,200 Pizza Hut locations and 385 Wendy's locations until March 2021.[2]
O. Gene Bicknell opened his first franchised Pizza Hut restaurant in Pittsburg, Kansas in 1962. In 1984, Bicknell and NPC went public, finishing the decade with 320 locations. The company then expanded by buying more Pizza Hut restaurants.[3][4] In the 1990s, NPC acquired, and then later sold, both Skippers Seafood & Chowder House and Tony Roma's restaurant chains.[5]