Domino’s Pizza Inc has closed the last of its 29 branches in the home of pizza - Italy.
The US chain entered Italy in 2015 through a franchising agreement with ePizza SpA and planned to distinguish itself by providing a structured national delivery service. The brand’s second selling point was its American palate for pizza, with flavours such as cheeseburger pizza, BBQ chicken pizza, and Hawaiian pizza combined with its adherence to Italian pie-making tradition using locally-sourced wheat.
Domino’s borrowed heavily for plans to open 880 stores, but faced tough competition from local restaurants expanding delivery services during the pandemic. Traditional pizza makers scaled up deliveries or signed deals with third-party services such as Deliveroo Plc, Just Eat Takeaway.com NV or Glovo to bring their products to customers’ homes while restrictions prevented dining out.
The pizza company reduced operations in the country and stopped offering delivery from its website on July 29. This followed an April tribunal in Milan, granting Domino’s court protection against creditors for 90 days, according to an ePizza filing. The measures, which prevented lenders from demanding debt repayment or seizing company assets, expired on July 1. There have been no further updates on the court process, according to tribunal e-filings or the Italian Chamber of Commerce.
