It’s difficult to associate Dominos with anything other than happiness and deliciousness. You never really stop and think, but where did this pizza really come from? What’s its story?
Well, this is the story of Dominos. Originally named ‘DomiNick’s’, the brand belonged to two brothers who at this point only owned a small pizza restaurant. At first, it wasn’t doing all that well. One of the brothers, James Monaghan, was unconvinced that the business would ever take off. Consequently, he decided to exchange his shares in the business for the Volkswagen Beetle the brothers used for deliveries.
As luck would have it, the business took off. Not instantly, but with a lot of time and effort put in by the other brother, Tom Managhan. One of his strategies for success was to target student campuses because lets face it, all students love pizza. By 1965, Tom was ready to expand the business and join up with two other restaurant chains. It was then that Tom was told he had to change the name of the brand, so he changed it to the well-known and loved Dominos.
What about his brother?
It’s the question all of us are thinking. James never re-joined the business and is pretty much off the radar. Considering Dominos is now one of the biggest pizza businesses in the world and how much money they make…this fact is pretty sad. Obviously, it’s his own fault for leaving in the first place, but I’m sure if he could have predicted Dominos’ success he definitely would have chosen otherwise. It just goes to show, having a positive attitude and persevering even when things feel slow really can get you far.
