It was the year 1961 when two brothers Tom Monaghan and James Monaghan took over an existing location of a small pizza restaurant chain by the name Dominick’s which was owned by Dominick DiVarti, in Ypsilanti, Michigan. $900 to pay for the store. James doesn’t want to quit his job but their new business required a great amount of time. So, James traded his share to Tom for the Volkswagen Beetle they used for pizza deliveries. I personally feel sorry for him had he been in business could have got much more than this.
According to Domino’s website in 1965, Tom Monaghan renamed his business as “Domino’s Pizza, Inc.” The name was suggested by an employee named Jim Kennedy. At that time Tom had three stores and his logo also had three dots representing these stores. He wanted to add a dot for each new store but Domino’s saw such a huge growth that it was not possible and the idea was dropped. The first franchise was given in 1967 and by the end of 1978, it had 200 stores.
It opened its first international store in 1983. Now that Domino’s was so popular in the States it went for international debut and with its first store in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In the same year they opened a store in Queensland, Australia Domino’s started its international run which proved to be a great run. Ever since it has seen growth all around the globe. In 1985 it opened its stores in Luton, U.K and Tokyo, Japan. Stores popped up in different countries and by 1995 they had 1000 stores in different parts of the world.
The growth was so rapid that they opened their 1500th store in 1997 and this number rose to 6000 international locations in 2014.
Domino’s opened its 1000th store in India in February 2016. With the expansion of stores menu also went under changes and expansion. In 1989 Domino’s introduced Pan Pizza, the company’s first new product, and in 1992 Domino’s introduced breadsticks, the company’s first national non-pizza menu item. Thin Crust pizza rolled out nationwide in 1993, company also discontinued the 30-minute guarantee in the same year and re-emphasizes the Total Satisfaction Guarantee: If for any reason you are dissatisfied with your Domino’s Pizza dining experience, they will remake your pizza or refund your money.
Domino’s launched its website in 1996 (www.dominos.com). It was in 2007 when Domino’s started it’s online and mobile ordering sites. A year later Domino’s launched pizza tracker, an online application that allows customers to view the status of their order in a real-time progress bar. In the year 1998 Domino’s Pizza founder, Tom Monaghan, announces his retirement and sold 93 percent ownership of the company to Bain Capital Inc. Dave Brandon was made its CEO.
In 1999 company’s revenue increased 4.4% with worldwide sales exceeding $3.36 billion. In 2000 domino’s celebrated their 40th anniversary and by the time they had 2000 stores outside the U.S and kept on going so was the revenue.
In 2001 Domino’s stores in New York City and Washington, D.C., provided more than 12,000 pizzas to relief workers following the September 11 tragedy. Domino’s established a team member matching funds program to financially assist the American Red Cross and donates $350,000 to the Disaster Relief Effort. Domino’s kept on growing acquiring new stores, introducing new items to its menu, and donating towards different causes. It was in 2007 when domino’s started online and mobile ordering.
It became the largest sandwich delivery company overnight when it launched a line of oven-baked sandwiches in 2008 and in the same year domino’s tracker was launched which allows customers to track the status of their pizza from bake to delivery.
Today domino’s has more than 16000 stores around the globe and this count increasing every year.
Ref URL:- biz.dominos.com/about/history/