Pizza Hut is hoping to pull in more consumers with a new selling method: pizza by the slice.
Planned for locations in York, Neb., and Pawtucket, R.I., the slices will cost between $2 and $3 starting this week, The Associated Press reported.
The test is part of a plan to reboot Pizza Hut's image after the chain saw a drop in sales last year. The pizza brand and other restaurants are trying to keep up with places like Chipotle that are drawing customers with their slightly higher-priced but "restaurant-quality" food, according to the AP.
The two locations serving Pizza Hut pies by the slice will use recipes in line with the thinner pizzas sold in Northeast restaurants.
The test restaurants will be outfitted with new ovens to heat up the slices alongside traditional ovens to bake the pies, Al Litchenburg, the chain's chief development officer, told the AP.
The Rhode Island location will feature a "slice bar" where customers choose their slices, while the test restaurant in Nebraska will additionally have salad and pasta stations where customers can order their food and have it brought to them.
Pizza Hut has been focusing more on developing its carry-out stores instead of dine-in restaurants.
"We're seeing the trends for quick and ready products," Carrie Walsh, Pizza Hut's chief marketing officer, told the AP.
The Wichita, Kan.-based chain will see competition from Chipotle soon, since the Mexican grill restaurants plan to offer pizza in the near future. Chipotle is developing a system where customers can order a pizza and watch the ingredients be put together. The pie is then cooked in the oven for about two minutes.
Pizza Hut isn't the only chain testing out the single-slice sales model. Domino's has also been selling pizza by the slice at some locations, a spokesperson told the AP.
Smaller chains, including Pasadena, Calif.-based Blaze Pizza and Pizza Studio, based in Los Angeles, have been featuring the build-your-own, quick-cooking pizza similar to the Chipotle model.
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