The History of Dominos Pizza

Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino's Pizza, in his first restaurant somewhere in the 1960s. Photo credit Maproom S stems, !rett Schutzman Dominos Pizza is the second largest franchised pizza chain in the U.S.A., and the history of Dominos Pizza is similar to its rival Pizza hut; two brothers started it with borrowed e uity in the si!ties. "om and #ames $onaghan bought a small $ichigan Pizzeria called Dominic%&s, which was 'ointly run by them until #ames traded his share for a second hand car. "om revitalized the image by changing the name to Dominos Pizza . (y the late seventies there were over )** franchise pizza businesses in the States and Dominos Pizza was ready to go +nternational. +n ,-./ Dominos Pizza opened its doors in 0innipeg, and in the same year opened its one thousandth store. 1ater that same year Domino&s corporate history was to begin in Australia with its first franchise in (risbane, on the 2ast coast. "he locations for Dominos Pizza grew uic%ly from here as they sprung up in all sorts of diverse places including (ogot3. Despite Domino&s Pizza springing up diverse locations, they were still a very traditional company. Domino&s Pizza menu had been %ept very simple and streamlined; they only sold one type of pizza crust which they named the regular pizza. Domino&s Pizza dough was shaped by tossing the dough and pulling it into shape. "he pizza menu included 'ust two sizes of dough, it was not until much later that competition forced them to add a medium and e!tra large sized pizza. "here were no such things as side orders you could have Pizza, pizza or Pizza and you could only drin% a 4o%e with it. +n ,-.- the history of Domino&s Pizza was to change when the Deep Pan pizza was introduced, for the first time in twenty five years the company was being forced to react to mar%et demand. "his move consolidated the financial base and ensured the growth of Domino&s Pizza , as the same year they opened their five thousandth store. "he wind of change had started and by ,--) they were to introduce the first non pizza item to their menu, this was obviously a reluctant move as it was bread stic%s. Domino Pizza dough was already on hand and the ma%ing of bread stic%s is not so different. 5or many years the company had advertised that if the delivery of their pizzas too% longer than thirty minutes then the pizza would be delivered free. "his was parodied by the "eenage $utant 6in'a "urtles movie which specified the 7pizza dude has /* seconds7 to complete the delivery. "he turtles pizza was late and they received a refund of 8/ for 7being two minutes late, dude97 :owever the benefits to Domino Pizza was enormous as millions of %ids were to hear the name of Domino Pizza endorsed on celluloid. +n ,--/ Domino Pizza discontinued this policy and stated that if a customer was unhappy they could have a new pizza or a refund. (y ,--; Dominos Pizza mar%eting policy widened as chicken wings were introduced to the menu. At the same time the company hit the African continent as they opened a store in 2gypt . (y ,--< Dominos Pizza website was launched and the company declared global sales of nearly 8/ billion. Despite their reluctance to add a wider range menu they have as a company given the pizza industry many innovations that have now become standard. "he belt driven pizza oven was the invention of Domino Pizza and they began using corrugated cardboard delivery bo!es which were very effective at holding the heat within the pizza during the delivery time. 2ver mindful of the fact that a cold pizza must be about the worst dining e!perience on earth Dominos pizza introduced the 7:eat 0ave,7 a portable electrical bag system that %eeps the pizza hot during delivery. (y ,--= they had also had an internal modern facelift as their stores were all brightened up and the company introduced a new logo. Domino Pizza continued to grow e!ponentially and in ,--= they opened seven stores in The Domino's Pizza "ogo one day but on > different continents. +n 2004 !uper "owl !unday was the most hectic pizza delivery day of the year when Dominos Pizza sold over a million pizzas, which was an increase of ;) percent on their normal Sunday trading volume. As the company continues to grow so rapidly it is 'ust as well the practice of adding a dot onto the logo was discontinued after three outlets as Dominos Pizza now has over seven thousand outlets globally.

#un #acts
"he $onaghan brothers borrowed $%00 with a 8=> down payment to ta%e over 7Dominic%&s Pizza7. +n ,--. "om $onaghan retired and sold Domino&s pizza for nearly , billion dollars. +n the .*s Domino&s ran an advertising campaign featuring The #oid. People better ordered pizza&s from Domino&s in order to &avoid the Noid&. +n ,-.- a guy named ?enneth 1amar 6oid held ) employees of an Atlanta Domino&s restaurant hostage because he thought the &a$oid the #oid& ads were a personal attac% on him. After > hours and forcing his hostages to ma%e pizza for him he surrendered to the police.

The &odern &enu in Dominos Pizza

"he standard Dominos Pizza has been ad'usted depending on the location; it is designed to reflect the local eclectic taste. S uid is very popular in #apan , whilst the (ritish tend to favor tuna and sweet corn. "he dominant flavor in +ndia is 1amb and pic%led ginger. 4onversely the normally conservative Swiss stray towards $e!ico when they visit Dominos Pizza, as they prefer 'alape@o peppers to top the pizza. Areece on the other hand is still maintaining a preference for :ellenic tradition with pepperoni, onion, green pepper, fresh tomato, Aree% olives, feta cheese and oregano, all standard $editerranean ingredients.