Why did Domino’s pizza spread across the entire country?
I would imagine that in this land of pizza shops, there must have been enough competition, even if only local places, to keep out a chain which does not have any advantage in quality.
It seems that Domino’s is everywhere, in any town in the US, with the same plain marketing and Italo-American namesake, and the same below-mediocre pizza. And of course it made the founder into a near billionaire.
So how does one open a chain of bad pizza places and make a billion? I don’t get it?
I’d say that a) the definition of “good pizza” varies wildly from person to person and b) you can almost always find a Dominos close enough to wherever you are to deliver.
I’m not a huge fan of Dominos, but I think the pizza is ok.
I haven’t had bad pizza from them. I would imagine they can do it faster and cheaper than some Mom and Pop from the Old Country who came to America with a pizza oven and a dream.
I dunno, some places don’t even have pizza-by-the-slice. I agree that Dominos is horrid (do they use matzah for crust?) but some places don’t have anything else.
Now, why there’s five Dominos is San Francisco, which is blanketed with good pizza, I have no idea.
Neither have I. It’s not great pizza, at least not to me, but it’s not horrible. But, heck, I live in Chicago, I’m pretty spoiled when it comes to good local pizza options.
I suspect that, in many locales, Domino’s may actually be pretty good, compared to their competition.
I think that’s a big part of it. When Domino’s first made their big national expansion (in the late 80s / early 90s), they had a 30-minute delivery guarantee, and I believe that fast delivery is still one of their selling points. And, they’ve always done various sorts of price promotions; you do get a lot of food for your money from them.
Probably the same reason that McDonalds does so well when there is so much better food on offer - it’s convenient and familiar.
Domino’s is the best of the delivery pizza places in our area - I don’t like Pizza Hut and we’re just out of Papa John’s delivery area (grrrrr). And the little local places are crap. So we order from Domino’s - it’s not great pizza but it’s good enough for our purposes.
(Of course, if Nando’s delivered I might never order a pizza again…)
The thing about chain restuarants is consistency. In theory, you buy Domino’s in Texas and again in Ohio, you’re getting the same, predictable product. May not be the best in the world, but it is edible, and you know what you’ll be getting when you order it.
Their Brooklyn style is edible and I am a sucker for those cinnamon things with the icing. But honestly I only eat Dominos cause my bf likes it. I think Dominos, Pizza Hut etc are way overpriced and not that good.
Sometimes I suspect that number of locations is directly proportional to mediocrity. McDonald’s is the most ubiquitous of the burger-centric fast food places, Subway is the most ubiquitous of the sandwich places, Taco Bell is the most ubiquitous of the “Mexican” places; but in each case they have competitors, local and/or nationwide, that have better food but not nearly as many locations. Is there something about having many locations that dilutes quality? Is it a matter of marketing—do we eat where the advertisers tell us to?
Let me tell you, living as I do in the land of the substandard pizza (England), Dominos aint so bad, and in fact better than most of the other delivery pizzerias here.
But I suspect an Englishman wouldn’t know a good pizza from a hole in the ground and that if I could sample some of the delights on offer in the US my opinion would change in an instant.
I don’t like Dominos or Pizza Hut either I usually go to the local mom & pop pizza places. My favorite was a local shop owned by an Italian guy who had Frank Sinatra pictures everywhere in the shop. When you called in your order it was always 12 minutes.
Doperland Fact of Life #3: Chain restaurants are always worse than mom-and-pop restaurants. :rolleyes:
More than 20 years ago, I was a driver for a Domino’s in Buffalo. I was one of the few major markets that they couldn’t break into, because Buffalonians are so attached to their unique local style of pizza, and mom-and-pop pizzerias are ubiquitous. There were about 40 mom-and-pop pizzerias just in the store’s delivery area.
That being said, the pizza was allright, and the store did well. Why? It was close to a major university campus, and delivery times were much faster than the mom-and-pops; 20 to 30 minutes for Domino’s versus 90+ minutes for the locals. The drivers and order takers were an order of magnitude friendlier than that’s normally found at pizzeria in Buffalo, and the business hours were consistent; nothing like being closed for random saint’s days or having different business hours for every day of the week.
In cities that don’t have a large Italian-American population, or a local style of pizza, chains thrive. The mom-and-pops in … oh, a place like Topeka or Fargo may make edible pizza, but in comparison Domino’s is just as good, if not better. It’s often cheaper, too.
What people don’t understand is that to succeed, you don’t have to have a great product. You have to have a product that is just good enough.
There are better pizzas than Domino’s, but there are also worse pizzas. Domino’s is just good enough so that you know you’re not taking a chance about quality or cleanliness. In addition, the fast delivery is a big selling point.
I remember reading a customer review for Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza in Washington DC. The pizza there was magnificent, but they hated it basically because it wasn’t Domino’s.
Actually, yes. Very few stores or restaurants have the capability to build a large chain without seeing huge variances in cost and quality. Those who do build large chains usually settle for not having the best food, but having it consistent and reasonably priced. And a great deal of the time this is what people need.
Location, location, location. The L=-word is rpetty much the end-all be-all of the restaurant business; outside of not being shut down by the health department, I can think of no other factor which makes or breaks a business like location. Not every location is equally desireable, even given the right size: some areas aappeal to upscale restaurants and get them business, but might be a disaster to cheaper ones.
Now, guess what chains know all about and mom-n-pops (assuming they could even afford it) generally don’t know the first thing about? Yep: Location.
As mentioned yes. Marketers can’t make people go there, but ti does remind people, who are mroe likely to go to someplace they remember than a tiny backalley food fantasy out of sight and mind.
The other thing that helped the Domino’s where I worked was its proximity to large office parks and a large cluster of hotels.
When you’re at work jonesing for pizza, but don’t want to venture into the Buffalo snow, you can either call Domino’s at 11:30 and be sure of getting your pizza before 12:00, or call a mom-and-pop and 11:00 and get your pizza at 12:00, or 12:30, or 1:00.
With the hotels and out-of-town visitors, Domino’s is an easy choice. Sure, I know Dopers are all more adventurous, and will always pick a mom-and-pop when they’re in an unfamiliar city, but the real world isn’t Doperland.
