After an absence of nearly ten years, Domino’s Pizza is back in Cyprus and is about to give other pizza companies a run for their money.
Having started with two outlets in the mid 1990s, the local partners of the franchise embarked on an aggressive expansion plan at the time to take the popular pizza delivery brand to nine stores, but faltered and the whole project was shut down.
Now, Anatron Food Services Hellas, master franchisor for Greece and Cyprus, is looking to develop a fresh approach and wants to appoint individual franchises in every town, with the aim of having a network of at least eight.
Anatron has also recruited Christakis Partassides, one of the initial partners when Domino’s first started in Cyprus, to help identify new partners – three each in Nicosia and Limassol, one in Larnaca and possibly one in the Paralimni/Ayia Napa area. The company has already concluded with a husband-and-wife team in Paphos where Dominos has been operating on a pilot basis.
“The focus is on owner-managers,” Partassides told the Financial Mirror, adding that the average cost of a Domino’s business is set at about EUR 200,000, including capital expenditure and the franchise rights.
Further details, such as royalties, will be negotiated separately with each partner, he said.
COMPETITION
Domino’s re-entry into the Cyprus market is expected to create fresh competition for market leader PHC Franchised Restaurants that owns and operates 32 Pizza Hut restaurants, other quick-service franchises (Taco Bell, TGIF) and two Wagamama restaurants, one in Nicosia and one in Athens.
Pizza Hut has already felt the heat from newcomer Papa John’s that has developed four delivery stores in Nicosia and one in Limassol, elbowing its way into the market once dominated by Pizza Hut and local franchise Toronto Pizza, a delivery-only chain with 13 outlets and one opening in Paralimni soon.
Meanwhile, as consumers tend to conserve their euros and cents, the fast food chains have enjoyed increased business, with McDonald’s planning to open a McCaffe and the first highway restaurant on the Nicosia-Limassol road, while its 15 outlets will also feature the locally developed McHalloumi very soon, with the McDonald’s breakfast to follow.
SEE WEB TV REPORT – www.financialmirror.com/video
