Domino's and Pizza Delivery

A borrowed start

In 1960 brothers Tom and James Monaghan bought a small pizza shop called DomiNick's in Ypsilanti, Michigan, for 500 dollars. Within a year James traded his half of the business to Tom for a Volkswagen Beetle used for deliveries. In 1965 the shop was renamed Domino's.

Built for delivery

Domino's focused on delivery near college campuses and busy city neighbourhoods, refining a simple menu and fast production. It developed corrugated delivery boxes that kept pizzas from getting soggy and insulated bags. Its famous 30-minute delivery guarantee in the US was dropped in 1993 over safety concerns.

Technology company with pizza

Domino's invested early in online ordering, launched its Pizza Tracker in 2008 so customers could follow their order, and later added ordering by text, smart speaker and app. In 2009 and 2010 it publicly admitted its pizza needed improvement and changed its recipe, a bold advertising move that worked.

Today

Domino's operates in more than 90 countries and is one of the largest pizza chains in the world by global retail sales. Read about the oldest rival on our Pizza Hut page, and about the dish itself on our pizza origins page.

Tom Monaghan later sold most of his stake in 1998, and Domino's became a public company in 2004. The brand's story is often used as a case study in how a restaurant can win by focusing on one channel, delivery, better than anyone else.

Menu guide

Domino's offers hand-tossed, thin crust, Brooklyn style and pan pizzas, plus specialty pizzas, wings, pasta, sandwiches and desserts such as lava cakes. Its build-your-own option lets customers choose crust, sauce, cheese level and toppings. Carryout deals and app-only coupons are a large part of its business, and many customers track their order from the oven to the door.

Did you know? The three dots in the Domino's logo stood for the first three stores, and the plan to add a dot for each new store was soon dropped. Domino's has tested delivery by robot and drone in some markets, and in many countries it uses scooters and electric bikes for faster city deliveries.

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