Domino’s Pizza
today celebrates
the opening of its 8,000th store worldwide with the simultaneous grand opening
celebrations of the Company’s 5,000th U.S. store and its 3,000th international
unit. Both stores will carry the symbolic designation of Domino’s 8,000th
store.
A franchise store in the small town of Huntley, Illinois (operated by
franchisee Lane Helvie), 55 miles outside of Chicago, is the designated
5,000th Domino’s Pizza store in the United States, and will play host today to
an event featuring Domino’s Chairman and CEO David A. Brandon, an $8,000
contribution to the Huntley Police Officers Benevolent Association, and of
course, free pizza.
A franchise store in Panama City, the bustling capital of Panama in
Central America (operated by master franchisee Michael Berkman and Grupo BGM),
is the site of Domino’s 3,000th international store. Fireworks and a visit by
Panama’s First Lady, Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos, will mark the beginning of
a three-week program called “Gracias, Panama,” in which the Domino’s Pizza
franchise plans to donate 8,000 pizzas to local charities (selected by Mrs.
Torrijos), hospitals, schools, police and fire departments, and other
community groups.
“Since joining Domino’s Pizza in 1999, I have had the pleasure of
celebrating many milestone store openings in countries around the world, as
well as the opening of our global brand’s 7,000th and now 8,000th store,” said
Mr. Brandon. “Events like this give us an opportunity to pause and reflect on
the great work of our franchise owner-operators, store managers and team
members in more than 50 countries. Each night, they go to work, safely
delivering hot, fresh pizza to millions of families the world over. I’m
looking forward to the opportunity to ‘clip the ribbon’ on our system’s
9,000th and 10,000th store in the future.”
Domino’s Pizza, which celebrated its 45th anniversary in December 2005,
opened its 5,000th unit worldwide in 1989 and its 6,000th store in 1997. The
company’s founder, Thomas Monaghan, sold the company in late 1998. Since 1999,
under the leadership of Mr. Brandon, store growth has accelerated, and
Domino’s Pizza has opened an average of 240 stores annually in the past five
years.
“Pizza is loved throughout the world,” Mr. Brandon said. “One of the great
attributes of pizza is its flexibility — while the core of dough, sauce and
cheese are the same, toppings can be adapted to local market tastes. It’s a
great value for those times when you want to ‘indulge’ and when you are
feeding a lot of people. Adding Domino’s expertise in delivery is one of our
key differentiators — one of those things that adds to our success on a
global scale. From small towns like Huntley, to a thriving urban center like
Panama City, Domino’s Pizza delivers everywhere.”
The Huntley, Illinois, store is the third for franchisee Lane Helvie, who
opened his first store in 1997 in Wood Dale, IL. Helvie and his wife, Laura,
operate the franchise together.
The Panama City store is the seventh store in Panama. The franchise was
recently purchased by Grupo BGM, a restaurant operation based in Mexico, where
it operated Domino’s Pizza stores and currently operates a number of high-end
sit down restaurants. Grupo BGM sold its Mexico Domino’s Pizza stores to
Domino’s master franchise, Alsea, and purchased rights to the Panama market in
2004.
