DOMINO’S - Looking to Open 60 New Stores across the UK and We Want Your Help!

An e mail fell into my ‘IN’ box in the last few days making this announcement. Frankly, Domino's must be either desperate or stupid, if they have to call upon members of the public to help them find suitable sites and properties for their new stores. They are asking us to help them with their search and offering a very tasty £8,000 finder’s fee for a suitable site. However, upon reading the small print of the terms and conditions for payment, there are quite strict clauses that include the requirement that any property found for Domino’s needs must legally complete within a six month period from the date of introduction. So on the surface, the offer appears attractive, but it just seems to be a very clever marketing trick. They even list the target towns and cities that they are looking to expand into, over the coming twelve months, wetting some people’s appetite, (but not mine), with the thought of a new Domino’s Take Away around their corner. They include three more in the Birmingham suburbs, two more for Bristol and for Manchester, twenty two more for Outer London and three for Nottingham. Country towns from Biggleswade, to Faversham to Oswestry and to Seaford will witness their first Domino’s. Far from toppling, the Domino’s are stacking!

The pizza chain's requirements are equally very precise in terms of the location for their store. They must be highly visible, in close proximity to family neighbourhoods and students, at a prominent roadside location or retail park and with parking. Why would they want anything less, if they are to continue to feed more of the already obese UK population with pizza! Don’t we have enough take away outlets in the UK without 60 more Domino’s stores? Aren’t 8,700 stores in over 60 countries enough for them to claim ‘worldwide pizza’ domination? Apparently not.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I like pizza as much as the next man or woman. I can do a traditional Neapolitan pizza margherita from time to time and I’ve been known to be a little more creative with my toppings – a handful of Mediterranean vegetables or a few mushrooms, are all acceptable. I once accepted a few slices of Parma ham strewn across the pizza, when in Verona. But I am a pizza purist, so pineapple has no place on the topping. Who wants their main course and dessert on the same plate? As for barbeque sauce, Chinese chicken, spicy beef, pulled pork, smoky bacon, meatballs or tandoori chicken – I’ll give them all a miss.


Domino’s not only has 35 different toppings but 8 different bases, if you include gluten free.Give me the wood fired thin and crispy every time. But what is this new addition to the extensive Domino’s menu? ‘Extravaganza’ - a hot dog stuffed crust pizza with a topping of hot dog sausage, tomato sauce, sausage, mushrooms, onion, ham, mustard and – wait or it – topped with mozzarella cheese. Give me a bucket quickly!

Too much of this fast food cannot be good for our health and that of our easily, ‘Domino’ distracted, young people. Planning agencies need to take action now over the spread of more fast food outlets, like Domino’s. One local council in in the West Midlands has banned fast food outlets from opening close to schools as part of sweeping measure to tackle obesity. One in five people in their area are significantly overweight. New planning regulations will curb new developments believed to harm the health of local residents.    

So, I’ll be forfeiting my opportunity to earn myself £8,000, with the terrible thought of a new Domino’s takeaway in lovely little Skelmersdale in rural Lancashire, between the country pub and the village shop and opposite the primary school!

A full list of Domino's target towns and cities for their new stores can be found at:
http://www.dominos.uk.com/property_planning/property_focus.aspx?dm_i=DYN,1UALS,73E87K,6L9OM,1

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