Domino's, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States.[1] Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States (after Pizza Hut)[2] and has more than 10,000 corporate and franchised stores[3] in 70 countries[4] and all 50 U.S. states. Domino's Pizza was sold to Bain Capital in 1998 and went public in 2004. The menu features both vegetarian and meat pizzas, chicken wings and boneless chicken, sandwiches, pasta, stuffed cheesy breads and a variety of dessert items, including cinnamon sticks and chocolate lava cakes and a variety of soft drinks, including Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Sprite.

 

History

Early years

In 1960, Tom Monaghan and his brother, James, purchased DomiNick's, a small pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan, near Eastern Michigan University. The deal was secured by a US$75 down payment and the brothers borrowed $900 to pay for the store. Eight months later, James traded his half of the business to Tom for a used Volkswagen Beetle. As sole owner of the company, Monaghan renamed the business Domino's Pizza, Inc. in 1965. In 1967, the first Domino's Pizza franchise store opened in Ypsilanti. The company logo was originally planned to add a new dot with the addition of every new store, but this idea quickly faded as Domino's experienced rapid growth. The three dots represent the stores that were open at the time (1969). By 1978, the franchise opened its 200th store.

In 1975, Domino's faced a lawsuit by Amstar Corporation, maker of Domino Sugar, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition. On May 2, 1980, a federal appeals court found in favor of Domino's Pizza.

 

International expansion

On May 12, 1983, Domino's opened its first international store, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. That same year, Domino's opened its 1,000th store overall. In 1985, they opened their first store in the United Kingdom in Luton and by 1995 Domino's had 1,000 international locations. In 1997, Domino's opened its 1,500th international location, opening seven stores in one day across five continents.

 

Sale of company

In 1998, after 38 years of ownership, Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan announced his retirement, sold 93 percent of the company to Bain Capital, Inc. for about $1 billion and ceased being involved in day-to-day operations of the company. A year later, the company named David A. Brandon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

 

Current era

In 2004, after 44 years as a privately held company, Domino's began trading common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "DPZ".

 

Industry trade publication Pizza Today magazine named Domino's Pizza "Chain of the Year" in 2003, 2010, and 2011. In a simultaneous celebration in 2006, Domino's opened its 5,000th U.S. store in Huntley, Illinois, and its 3,000th international store in Panama City, making 8,000 total stores for the system. Also that year, the Domino's Pizza store in Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland, became the first in Domino's history to hit a turnover of $3 million (€2.35 million) per year. As of September 2006, it has 8,238 stores which totaled US$1.4 billion in gross income.

 

In 2007, Domino's introduced its Veterans, Delivering the Dream franchising programs and also rolled out its online and mobile ordering sites. In 2008, Domino's introduced the Pizza Tracker, an online application that allows customers to view the status of their order in a simulated "real time" progress bar. In addition, the first Domino's with a dining room opened in Stephenville, Texas, giving the customers the option to either eat in or take their pizza home. Since 2005, the voice of Domino's Pizza's US phone ordering service 1-800-DOMINOS has been Kevin Railsback.

 

In a 2009 survey of consumer taste preferences among national chains by Brand Keys, Domino's was last — tied with Chuck E. Cheese's. In December that year, Domino's announced plans to entirely reinvent its pizza. It began a self-flogging ad campaign in which consumers were filmed criticizing the pizza's quality and chefs were shown developing the new product. The new pizza was introduced that same month, and the following year, Domino's 50th anniversary, the company acquired J. Patrick Doyle as its new CEO and experienced a historic 14.3% quarterly gain. While admitted not to endure, the success was described by Doyle as one of the largest quarterly same-store sales jumps ever recorded by a major fast-food chain.

 

Products

The current Domino's menu features a variety of Italian-American entrees and side dishes. Pizza is the primary focus, with traditional, specialty and custom pizzas available in a variety of crust styles and toppings. In 2011, Dominos launched Artisan style pizzas that offer a base blend of rich flavors to compliment chef inspired toppings. Additional entrees include pasta, bread bowls and oven-baked sandwiches. The menu offers chicken side dishes, breadsticks, as well as beverages and desserts.

 

From its founding until the early 1990s, the menu at Domino's Pizza was kept simple relative to other fast food restaurants, to ensure efficiency of delivery. Historically, Domino's menu consisted solely of one pizza in two sizes (12-inch and 16-inch), 11 toppings, and Coke as the only soft drink option.

 

The first menu expansion occurred in 1989, with the debut of Domino's deep dish, or pan pizza. Its introduction followed market research showing that 40% of American pizza customers preferred thick crusts. The new product launch cost approximately $25 million, of which $15 million was spent on new sheet metal pans with perforated bottoms.Domino's started testing extra-large size pizzas in early 1993, starting with the 30-slice, yard-long "The Dominator".

 

Domino's tapped into a market trend toward bite-size foods with spicy Buffalo Chicken Kickers, as an alternative to Buffalo Wings, in August 2002. The breaded, baked, white-meat fillets, similar to chicken tenders, are packaged in a custom-designed box with two types of sauce to "heat up" and "cool down" the chicken.

 

In August 2003, Domino's announced its first new pizza since January 2000, the Philly Cheese Steak Pizza. The product launch also marked the beginning of a partnership with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, whose beef Check-Off logo appeared in related advertising. Domino's continued its move toward specialty pizzas in 2006, with the introduction of its "Brooklyn Style Pizza", featuring a thinner crust, cornmeal baked in to add crispness, and larger slices that could be folded in the style of traditional New York-style pizza.

 

In 2008, Domino's once again branched out into non-pizza fare, offering oven-baked sandwiches in four styles, intended to compete with Subway's toasted submarine sandwiches. Early marketing for the sandwiches made varied references to its competition, such as offering free sandwiches to customers named "Jared," a reference to Subway's spokesman of the same name.

 

The company introduced its American Legends line of specialty pizzas in 2009, featuring 40% more cheese than the company's regular pizzas, along with a greater variety of toppings. That same year, Domino's began selling its BreadBowl Pasta entree, a lightly seasoned bread bowl baked with pasta inside, and Lava Crunch Cake dessert, composed of a crunchy chocolate shell filled with warm fudge. Domino's promoted the item by flying in 1,000 cakes to deliver at Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center near Mount St Helens.

 

In 2010, shortly after the company's 50th anniversary, Domino's changed its pizza recipe "from the crust up", making significant changes in the dough, sauce and cheese used in their pizzas. Their advertising campaign admitted to earlier problems with the public perception of Domino's product due to issues of taste.

 

Since the companies stock low in late 2009, the company's stock had grown 233 percent by late 2011. Even as the economy has suffered and unemployment has risen, Dominos has seen its sales rise dramatically through its efforts to rebrand and retool its pizza.

 

Domino's serves Coca-Cola products, and as of January 2012 is the only "Big Four" pizza chain to do so. Rivals Papa John's Pizza and Little Caesars sold Coca-Cola in the past (Pizza Hut, due to its previous ownership by PepsiCo, has a lifetime contract to sell Pepsi products.), but both switched to Pepsi in 2012 and 2007, respectively.

 

In September 2012, Domino's announced it was going to roll out pan pizza on Monday, September 24, 2012.

 

Corporate governance

Domino's management is led by J. Patrick Doyle, CEO from March 2010, formerly president of Domino's USA. Previous chief executive David Brandon, made athletic director of the University of Michigan in January 2010, remains chairman. Among 11 executive vice presidents are Michael Lawton, CFO; Asi Sheikh, Team USA; Scott Hinshaw, Franchise Operations and Development; and Kenneth Rollin, General Counsel. Domino's operations are overseen by a board of directors led by Brandon. Other members of the board are Andrew Balson, Diana Cantor, Mark Nunnelly, Robert Rosenberg and Bud Hamilton.