It worked because Dominos was a brand name, people knew what to expect before ordering, and they picked up their own food instead of letting a overworked disinterested gig driver deliver it.

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FearNotDaniel a day ago | parent | next [-]

Plenty of Chinese takeaways, and a good few “Indian” establishments (takeaway/delivery only, no restaurant) have operated in the same way, without chains or brand names, for decades, at least all over the UK. Many great quality, many poor, but that was part of the fun of moving to a new area, figuring out the good ones from all the menus that got shoved through the letterbox.

Before that, of course, the fish and chip shop is an ancient institution, though they rarely delivered.

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SoftTalker a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Most Domino’s were/are almost always delivery. Yes you can go pick up your pizza but most people don’t.

When I worked there they sold pizza and Coke. That was it. No breadsticks, no wings, no salads. One kind of crust, two size options. And by Coke I mean Coca Cola Classic in 16oz glass bottles. No Diet Coke, no sprite, nothing else. It was pure efficiency by elimination.

The drivers were all employees then, too. Not gig workers. No idea if that’s still the case.

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HankStallone 11 hours ago | parent [-]

Same here. We added Diet Coke and pan pizzas right at the end of my Domino's career, and that was a big honking deal. I can't imagine what it's like to work at one now.

Giving in to the nostalgia for a moment: there also wasn't a computer in the place. Everything was done on paper order slips and paper bookkeeping. No online ordering, so everyone paid with cash or check. No cell phones, so you couldn't call out to tell a driver he had the wrong address or the wrong pizza; you just had to wait for him to get back. And we still had the 30-minute guarantee, so we raced around like a bunch of maniacs even though the company kept telling us not to. Good times.

	▲	SoftTalker 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yep, same. The only technology in the store was the desk calculator on the manager's desk. And no GPS navigation of course. There was a big map of the delivery area on the wall in the back room. If you didn't recognize the address you'd look at that before you left the store and just had to remember the details.

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narcraft a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Dominos delivered. Pizza has been delivered since the dawn of time.

	▲	jerlam a day ago \| parent [-]
		The pizza was delivered by an actual employee of the pizza place, and there might be a small delivery fee and a tip. Now the gig companies add a delivery fee on top of the inflated menu prices, then ask for a tip before the order will even be picked up. The fees can be 80% or even higher than the in-store price.