Why is Domino's Pizza fleeing Italy? Local pizza makers eat the big chain

There is no official announcement from the company, but in Italy the closures of chains -from Milan to Parma- make it clear that the crisis exists.

The

which manages

born in 1960 in Michigan and famous for its home delivery service and its special pizzas with pineapple or chicken,

11 directly managed stores, 13 in sub-franchise and 3 for rent.

Since days even

cannot be placed and in many stores no one answers the phone.

Comments on social networks

On the group's social networks, the company has repeatedly responded

to the many users who comment on the closures and at the same time ask when the stores will reopen.

In the case of Domino's Pizza on Via Martinella, in Milan, on the other hand, if there is a more specific answer: "we are doing the work, but it will reopen in a few days".

The procedure

It is not really known how close that "soon" is.

In the documents published on the Domino's Italia website, edited by the LCA law firm in Milan, there are about

, mainly commercial (for example, suppliers).

In fact, last spring the company had asked the

(the company is headquartered in the Lombard capital), from which it had received the go-ahead, to access the so-called

.

This is a procedure that companies can request, thanks to Decree Law 118 of 2021, after having had access to the "negotiated transaction", which allows the entrepreneur, who is in conditions of equity or economic-financial imbalance, to

with the support of

(in this case the auditor Francesco Carnevali of the Milanese firm Ca & Co), who facilitates negotiations with creditors and other interested parties.

But what do these protection measures consist of?

The possibility is given so that the creditors

.

This procedure, introduced to prevent and try to avoid possible stops with no return, should give

recover from any crisis.

In fact,

's intention is that this measure has "the effect of safeguarding social assets, preserving their continuity, indirectly if necessary."

There is a specific period to act, however, of a maximum of

, which varies according to the decision of the court.

The causes of the crisis

At the origin of the crisis that hit

, which began at the end of 2020, is

, as explained in the documents delivered in court, which "

ePizza from a financial point of view".

But

is also involved: precisely during these two years it has increased exponentially, on the one hand with the birth of other delivery companies and on the other with the increase in existing activities, given the emergency that has driven the delivery service .

Two elements that "led to a

in ePizza's income, such as generating poor cash flow and therefore a

; this in the face

".

Last but not least, "we must take into account the contraction in income that ePizza's sub-affiliates also suffer, hence a growing difficulty for the latter to recover accounts receivable from them."

The forecasts, in the pre-pandemic era, had certainly been more rosy.

There was talk of a 2% market share and 880 restaurants by 2030. But if the Italian company suffers, even the American giant has had some decline due to the impact of cost increases: it recorded

, going from 60.8 to 50.9 million pounds.

The history of Domino's Italy

Domino's arrived in Italy in 2015.

, where in 2017 there were a dozen establishments.

In a few years, the points of sale grew to a total of

, from Parma to Rome.

The company's president is

, who has held senior positions in the past at multinationals such as Louis Vuitton, Samsonite and Pandora.

Among the founding members, with the position of director, is

,

.

And then, other experts in finance and consulting appear as partners, including Giuseppe Fredella of the Fredella & Associati studio in Milan, where Domino's Italy has its registered office.

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