Domino's Pizza History
Domino’s Pizza began in 1960 when Tom Monaghan and his brother James bought “Dominick’s Pizza“, a small pizzeria in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The deal was secured by a $75 down payment and the brothers borrowed $500 to pay for the store. Eight months later, James quit the partnership and traded his half of the business to Tom for a used Volkswagen Beetle. With Tom as the sole owner of the company, Dominick’s Pizza became Domino’s Pizza. In 1968, a fire destroyed the company headquarters and commissary.
Although Domino’s faced numerous other obstacles in the following years, including a 1975 trademark-infringement lawsuit by Amstar, maker of Domino sugar, the company expanded, and in 1978, the 200th Domino’s franchise opened.
At the prospect of potentially losing the right to use the Domino’s Pizza brand name, Tom Monaghan (pictured left) hired Group 243 to create an alternative identity. Later they became agency of record for the company and remained so for over a decade. During that time, the agency, led by president Janet Muhleman and her then husband Robert Cotman designed the store interiors, the pizza box, the Indy race car, created and produced all of the advertising, and managed recruitment for the franchise. When Group 243 was hired, Domino’s had fewer than 100 units.
They marketed the brand until it reached over 5,000. In the 1980s, Domino’s decentralized its operations by opening the first international Domino’s in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In the following years the company expanded even more, and as of September 2006, it has 8,238 stores which totaled US$1.4 billion in gross income. Monaghan retired in 1998 and sold Domino’s Pizza for nearly 1 billion dollars, but retained a 27% non-controlling stake in the company.
Over 37,000 stores worldwide now operate under the Domino’s brand, with the opening of a store in Huntley, Illinois as the 8,000th store. All international stores are franchised. 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) a year. Although the franchise is typically delivery and carry-out only, there is one dine-in Domino’s with a full buffet in Clovis, NM.
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