FANCY A SLICE?
Family favourite pizza chain to open 700 new locations and launch £4 meal deal to rival McDonald’s and Greggs
Plus, we reveal two major pizza chains struggling on the high street
A FAMILY favourite pizza chain is set to open 700 new locations as it reveals plans to launch a new £4 lunchtime meal deal.
Domino's, which currently runs 1,300 UK and Republic of Ireland sites, has set its sights on running 2,000 stores by 2033.
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It plans to open 70 new branches in 2024 too, although it hasn't revealed the locations of where they will open.
The fast food chain revealed the news today in its results for 2023, in which it said sales across the brand totalled £1.57billion for the year.
It comes as the pizza chain's chief executive, Andrew Rennie, said it would be launching a £4 meal deal in a matter of weeks.
The deal will include smaller items from the menu, including pizzas, wraps and cookies.
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A loyalty programme will be unveiled later in the year as well, although an exact launch date has not yet been revealed.
Mr Rennie said: "It’s not so much focusing on the competition, but we know we are under penetrated in some areas.”
“In other countries Domino's does 20 to 25% of sales at lunchtime, but here it’s only about 15%, which is why we’re launching a £4 lunch offer and cheeky pizza and wraps because we know people want a lighter option at lunchtime."
The chain's plans to be running 2,000 stores in less than 10 years would see it rival behemoth McDonald's, which currently runs under 1,400 restaurants across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
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Of course, this doesn't factor in how many stores McDonald's might be running by 2033.
It comes after Domino's opened 61 stores in 2023.
Commenting on the results, Mr Rennie said: "Last year we continued to make strong strategic progress with 61 new store openings whilst offering our customers compelling value.
"These efforts delivered an increase in sales and shareholder returns with continued robust profit growth."
It comes at a time when other pizza chains are struggling on the high street.
Papa John's, which currently operates over 520 sites across the UK, has plans to close 50 "under performing" restaurants.
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Earlier this month, Papa John's said it would be "undertaking a comprehensive review of our UK-based restaurants to assess viability."
A spokesperson told The Sun "strategic" closure of failing branches would give the company the opportunity to invest in branches that are doing well.
Pizza Hut has also languished on the high street, with the owner of its UK stores Heart with Smart Group locked in negotiations to refinance millions of pounds of debt with lenders in August last year.
At the time, auditors Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) warned the dining franchise arm of the business faced "material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the…ability to continue as a going concern".
In the year to December 2022, Pizza Hut's revenues jumped from £130million to £161million - but its added costs pushed it to a pre-tax loss of £3.6million.
The chain is also in the process of repaying £73million worth of debt with £31million needing to be paid by April 2024.
It comes after the chain announced in 2020 it would close 29 branches after it was saved from going bust.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.
The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.
It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.
The centre's director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is "less bad" than good.
Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.
"The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend," Prof Bamfield said.
"Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult."
Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023's biggest failures included UK Flooring Direct, Planet Organic and Tile Giant.
The Centre for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.
Last year, around 14% of insolvencies were in retail businesses, according to official figures.
In other news, Domino's launched a pasta-inspired lasagne and carbonara pizza in February.
But the change bemused some pizza lovers, with one stating: "Clearly, Domino's has declared war on Italy."
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The pizza chain also launched Cadbury Creme Egg-themed cookies nationwide last month.
But you'll have to be quick if you want to snap one up - they're only on sale until April 8.
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