Dominos Pizza, the second largest Pizza brand in the world owned by Tom Monaghan, has been a raging success story since its inception. It has 11,900 locations in 85 countries and counting, selling about 1.5 million Pizzas daily.
The American pizza restaurant chain (founded in 1960) is only second in the hierarchy to Pizza Hut and with a diverse menu that varies by region. It was estimated that the company has over 400,000 franchised and corporate team members worldwide.
Hence, we bring to you all the exciting facts and all you never knew about this business empire starting with the owner, Tom Monaghan. How was a boy from an Orphanage able to build this massive business franchise that has become a household name in Pizza delivery worldwide?
Dominos Pizza Facts
1. He was a college dropout
Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza didn’t quite know where life would take him after his father’s death when he was just four years old. Unable to cope with the challenges of caring for two young kids, his mother sent him and his brother Jim to an orphanage owned by the Catholic Church.
After a series of foster homes and managing to graduate from high school with the worst result in his class, he tried the Marine Corps but couldn’t find his niche there. He thereafter got admitted into the University of Michigan to study architecture but was unable to pay his tuition and had to drop out. He and his brother decided to buy a small Pizza restaurant that was up for sale and they eventually brought it for $1400 dollars after taking a loan of $900.
2. His brother sold out his share for a used VW beetle
Eight months after the two brothers purchased an ailing Pizza outfit in Ypsilanti, Michigan, his brother Jim decided to opt out of the business and focus solely on his job as a mailman. The initial setup was that they would work in shifts so that Tom would have time for college and Jim would also have time for his job. Tom had to trade the Volkswagen Beetle they were using for delivery to acquire Jim’s 50% share of the business, therefore making him the sole owner.
Jim’s probably full of regrets by now for quitting the business.
3. A Pizza delivery man suggested the name ‘Domino’s Pizza’
The name of the Pizzeria they bought was ‘Dominick’s Pizza’. However, when they wanted to use the name for an expanded Pizza chain, the owner wouldn’t allow it. It was a Pizza delivery man, Jim Kennedy, who suggested the name be slightly skewed to ‘Domino’s Pizza’.
4. Dominos Pizza would have had ‘logo problems’ by now
Those three dots on Domino’s logo represent their first three outlets. When they first started their chains of Pizzerias, Monaghan thought that they would add one new dot for every restaurant opening. If they had gone ahead with the plan, their billboard would not have contained their new number of dots.
5. The business has always been centered on delivery
The first restaurant was too small to accommodate many people so Tom focused on delivery instead. He hired local factory workers that have been laid off at work for the job.
6. Tom struck gold with the Detroit Tigers
Just a year after purchasing the Detroit Tigers in 1983, they won the World Series. While wild celebrations in the streets stranded some fans and sports journalists in the stadium, Tom flew in hundreds of Pizza on his airplane. He later sold the Detroit Tigers to Bain Capital in 1998 for about 1 billion dollars.
7. Dominos plan to initiate Pizza delivery by drone
The concept of delivering pizza by drone was powered by Dominos in partnership with Startup Flirty. The first attempt was carried out in New Zealand in 2016.
8. They fixed potholes
In 2018, Domino’s repair trucks started repairing potholes across the US. They said it was to help their delivery trucks move freely without damaging their Pizza.
9. Isreal is the only country with Vegan Dominos restaurants
Yes, because of the prevalence of Vegans in Isreal, Domino had to alter their Pizza ingredients slightly to fit into a Vegan diet. They did this by replacing dairy cheese with soy cheese and veggies.
9. The company changed its entire recipe in 2009
After a series of complaints about the poor quality of their pizza, instead of defending themselves, Domino admitted their mistake and revamped their entire recipe from the crust up and came out with a more tasty Pizza. Pepperoni became their most popular topping in the United States followed by sausage, bacon, mushrooms, and pineapple.
Domino’s pizza also included Breadsticks in their menu since 1992, as the first national nonpizza menu item.
10. The money is made from dough
The bulk of Dominos profit comes mainly from selling Pizza dough to its numerous franchise and not from their Pizza deliveries.
11. They keep up with modern trends
Dominos has continued to cash, on technological innovations to keep up with their business. The use of online and mobile ordering started in 2007 as well as the introduction of online Pizza delivery tracker in 2008.
They’ve also brought out a series of new products like pasta, toasted sandwiches and chicken-encrusted pasta.
12. They once offered free Pizza to people named Jared
In 2008, when Domino introduced four varieties of oven-baked sandwiches into the market, they said openly that they wanted to compete with Subway and drag market shares from them. Then they mocked Subway by offering free sandwiches to anyone named Jared. Jared was the former official spokesman for Subway.
13. Their menu remained the same for almost four decades
From 1960 to 1989, Domino’s menu consisted of one pizza in two sizes (12 inches and 16 inches), 11 topping options, and a Coca-Cola. The deep-dish pizza was introduced in 1989 at the cost of $25 million.
14. You can order Dominos Pizza through Social media
Domino has a pizza delivery emoji on Twitter that a user can use to request Pizza on their official Twitter account. The service is known as ‘tweet to order’.
You can also order the pizza through Alexa, Facebook Messenger, and Slack.
15. They invented a special pizza delivery vehicle
This vehicle is custom-made for Pizza delivery with a 140-degree oven to keep your pizza fresh and toasty. Known as Domino DXP, this vehicle can carry 80 pizzas and Franchises can purchase the vehicle for $25,000.
16. He met his wife through pizza delivery
On his first delivery from a new shop on Mount Pleasant Michigan, Tom Monaghan fell in love with the receptionist at the dormitory of the Central Michigan University where he had gone to deliver the pizza and married her a year later.
17. Dominos mistakenly gave out 11,000 pizzas in 2009
Someone hacked through a promotional giveaway code from Domino that has never been publicized and people were able to make away with about 11,000 free pizzas before the glitch was discovered and stopped.
18. The Franchise once hosted a tattoo competition that went haywire
Russian fans once had the opportunity of getting free Pizza for life, all they had to do was get inked with the company’s logo. This competition drew so much crowd that Domino had to modify the rules of the game to the first 350 persons to get their tattoos posted online.
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19. Dominos is a favoured Pizza brand in Britain
The franchise ranks 5th in the US as of April 2018 and has the most locations in India as of the end of 2017.
According to Biz Dominos, their largest market by the number of stores includes the U.S., India, U.K/Ireland, Australia/N.Z., Mexico, Japan, Turkey, Canada, South Korea, France, and the Netherlands.
20. Reckless driving ended the 30-minute Pizza delivery promise
‘Dominos pizza delivery in thirty minutes or get your money back’ guarantee started in 1973. By the 1980s, they adjusted it to three dollars off.
However, a series of lawsuits, due to reckless driving, that resulted in millions of dollars in payouts led to the forfeiture of the 30 minutes promised. Although it is still in operation in Colombia, Mexico, China, India and Vietnam, it is subject to terms and conditions.
