History of Domino’s Pizza

Domino’s Pizza is by far the second largest franchised pizza chain in the United States. They are the ones who first invented the concept of fast pizza with the “thirty minutes or less” delivery time. They have stores in 5,701 cities worldwide and 2,900 of them are international while the 2,800 branches are in the US. But just like any other success stories, Domino’s Pizza had to go through some tough times before they reached the achievement they have today.

History

The story of Domino’s Pizza all started with two brothers named James and Tom Monaghan who brought a small Michigan Pizzeria named Dominick’s. The pizzeria was initially run by the both of them until Tom decided to sell his share for a second-hand car leaving Tom to manage the business. Tom later purchased two more pizzerias, he wanted the additional stores to have the same branding but the original owner of Dominick’s forbade him to do so, that’s why he later revamped its image and changed its name to Domino’s Pizza in 1965.

The logo of the pizzeria originally had three dots which represented the three original stores in 1965 and Tom wanted to add a new dot every time he adds a new store but his idea faded as his business quickly expanded. By the late seventies, Domino’s Pizza had a total of 200 franchise pizza branch all over the United States. And in 1983, Domino’s showed that they were ready to go global as they opened their first international branch in Winnipeg and on that same year, it opened its 100th store in Vancouver, Washington.

Even if they had locations in different parts of the world, Domino’s Pizza remained to be a traditional company. And before competition forced them to add varieties in their menu, Domino’s Pizza only had one type of pizza crust which the dough is shaped by tossing and pulling, and they only had just two sizes of dough.

In the 1990s, the pizzeria introduced its first non-pizza item to their menu by including breadsticks and chicken wings. And in 1996, Domino’s Pizza launched its website and declared a global sales of almost three billion dollars. The following year, the company revamped their stores by introducing a new look and a new logo.

In 1998, Domino’s founder and CEO Tom Monaghan announced his retirement after 38 years of ownership. He sold almost 93 percent of Domino’s Pizza to Bain Capital Inc. for one billion dollars. And from then on he stopped being involved in day-to-day transactions and operations of the company.

Present

In January 2006, Domino’s Pizza opened its 5,000th store in the United States and its 3,000th international store in Panama City. And in December of 2009, Domino’s Pizza announced their plans to reinvent their pizza. In 2012, Domino’s Pizza changed their name into Domino’s. they also introduced a new logo and removed the blue rectangle and text under the name in the logo.

In 2015, Domino’s introduced their “pizza car” which can carry 80 pizzas, 2-liter bottles of sodas, sides, and dipping sauces. And the following year, they coordinated with Starship technologies and introduced self-driving robots to deliver pizzas in specific parts of Germany and Dutch cities. And on the same year, they delivered the world’s first pizza by unmanned aerial vehicle using a drone in New Zealand.

Domino’s Pizza Fun Facts

  • Domino’s Pizza sold the same amount of pizza during the OJ Simpson car chase as it did on Superbowl Sunday.
  • Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza was a college drop out.
  • Domino’s Pizza accidentally gave away almost 11,000 free pizzas in 2009 because a customer found a promotional code that was created months before.
  • The only vegan Domino’s branch is located in Israel.
  • Because of their 30 minutes delivery guarantee, their employee death rate skyrocketed during the 80s and 90s.
  • In 2011, two Domino’s store managers were arrested and charged with arson after they burned down a Papa John’s store in Southern Florida.
  • In the 1960s, Domino’s developed the first cardboard pizza box but they never patented it.

In 2010, Domino’s reinvented their pizza recipe after admitting that their pizza tasted bad.

You always have the option to bake your own pizza using great BBQ Tool Sets and other accessories.