History of Domino's Pizza

Domino's Pizza traces its origins to 1960, when brothers Tom and James Monaghan bought a small pizza store called DomiNick's in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1961, James traded his half of the business to Tom for a Volkswagen Beetle that had been used for deliveries. After the original owner objected to the continued use of the DomiNick's name, the business was renamed Domino's Pizza in 1965, and the first franchise store opened in 1967.

Domino's built its business almost entirely around delivery, with a simplified menu and a strong focus on speed. Its well-known promise to deliver within 30 minutes helped drive rapid growth through the 1970s and 1980s. The guarantee was dropped in the United States in 1993 following lawsuits related to accidents involving delivery drivers. The company opened its first international store in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1983, followed by markets such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

In 1998, Tom Monaghan sold a majority stake in the company to Bain Capital, and Domino's went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2004. In 2009 and 2010, the company launched its "Pizza Turnaround" campaign, publicly acknowledging customer complaints and reformulating its recipe, a move that marked a turning point in its sales performance.

Domino's has since positioned itself as much a technology company as a pizza chain, investing in online ordering, mobile apps, and its Domino's Tracker system, which lets customers follow their order in real time. Today, it operates thousands of stores in more than 90 markets, most of them run by franchisees and master franchise partners.