their restaurants during the same period.Pizza Hut's refranchising program is expected to continue this year, tapping the momentum of the 115 former corporate-owned units that were spun off to franchisees during the first quarter of 1999. The sales are part of Tricon's multi-year-long strategy to reduce the company's ownership to approximately 25 percent of the Pizza Hut system.DOMINO'S pizza history and profileThomas Monaghan began his pizza career in 1960 when he purchased a failed pizza business in Michigan by the name of DomiNick's. He borrowed $500 for the purchase and he and his brother James began making pizzas. By 1961 his brother James gave up on the business, and traded his share in DomiNick's for a Volkswagen Beetle.Thomas kept experimenting with pizzas through trial and error. He developed the strategy of selling only pizza and locating stores near colleges and military bases.In 1965, he changed the company name from DomiNick's to Domino's Pizza. During the next 10 years, there were many setbacks that nearly lead the company into bankruptcy.In the early 1980's, Domino's grew dramatically. The company had more than doubled its' U.S. stores to 1,000 and had become an international company by opening its first store in Canada in 1983. The company was becoming very successful, and this success brought much wealth to the owner; however, Thomas did not possess the ability or skill of managing funds properly, or appropriately creating intense problems.In 1989, Thomas decided to sell Domino's. He put the company up for sale, but no one was interested in purchasing the company. Thomas replaced himself with a new management group in hopes of restoring the finances of the company. In 1991, the company performance began to slide and Thomas returned to management. He began selling his personal assets and used the money to renew the company.Domino's is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan and is the leading pizza delivery company in ...
