Seven years after its debut in the country, the American pizza giant has officially closed its stores after failing to convince locals who preferred local options, according to a Milano Today report. EPizza SpA, the franchise operator of the Domino’s brand (DMPZF) in Italy, filed for bankruptcy in April after struggling to generate sufficient sales during two years of pandemic restrictions, according to a document filed with a Milan court. The company suspended activities at all of its Domino’s stores on July 20, according to a report by Food Service, a publication of the Italian food industry.
Though some may attribute Domino’s failure to its brazen attempt to infiltrate pizza’s homeland with American dishes, ePizza said it went bust because of competition from meal delivery apps.
The Milan-based company faced “unprecedented competition” from local restaurants, which began using services like Glovo, Just Eat and Deliveroo during the pandemic, the court filings said.
Domino’s said in a document accompanying the court filing that ePizza’s troubles over the past year were the result of “significantly increased levels of competition in the grocery delivery market, with both organized chains and mom-and-pop restaurants delivering groceries to survive .”
There have also been problems, it said Once pandemic restrictions were eased and consumers began visiting sit-down restaurants again.
The Milan court had given the company a 90-day grace period during which its creditors could not demand repayment or confiscate its assets. This expired at the beginning of July.
Domino’s had high hopes when it entered the Italian market in 2015 and signed a 10-year franchise deal with ePizza. There are plans to launch a large-scale pizza delivery service in the country, which was then absent, court filings said.
At the beginning of 2020, ePizza managed 23 stores in Italy and six more through a sub-franchise partner.
Neither Domino’s nor ePizza immediately responded to CNN Business’s request for comment.