The company aims to add 50 stores each year thereby having 200 outlets by the end of 2002. At present, Domino's has 50 stores in 16 cities. Stores would be opened in 23 cities in the next 12 months besides increasing the number of outlets in the existing cities.

By June 2000, Domino's Pizza India would be spreading its network to the neighbouring countries of Sri Lanka (three stores), Bangladesh (two stores) and Nepal (one store), becoming the first franchisee in Domino's International history to be given the approval to open outlets in other countries.

Last month, Domino's tied up with CB Richard Ellis, a leading property management company to help with its expansion plan in South Asia. Richard Ellis will help Domino's with market review, location feasibility, site selection, acquisition and project management. According to Bhatia: ``Domino's strength has been that its property is always corporate owned.

How to source, create and open a store in 30 days has always been a difficult task. Hence, we are giving the mandate for leasing to Richard Ellis.''

Domino's is all set to move from being a lifestyle product to a regular commodity product. For the purpose, the company has allocated a Rs 50 crore budget for the next two years.

To meet the objective, the company apart from expanding the number of outlets, has announced a slash in the pizza prices across the country. According to its chief executive officer Pavan Bhatia: ``Now that we are 50 stores in India and the customer base is increasing at an alarming rate, we have achieved the basic economies of scale to be able to offer pizzas at lower prices.''

The company opened the 50th store in Churchgate, Mumbai on Monday. As part of the ongoing celebrations for the opening of the 50th store, Domino's has introduced in India the thin crust pizza. The crunchy thin crust has a clear emphasis on the crisp flavoured crust. It is to be noted that Domino's Pizza India is owned by the Bhartiya Group with Shyam S Bhartia becoming the master franchisee for India. Last year, Chase Manhattan invested 26 per cent in the company.

Dial a Pizza
Across the world, Domino's has earned the reputation of being a home delivery specialist. In India, Domino's is making ordering pizzas a lot more simpler by introducing a single number across the country. All that customers have to do is dial 1600-111-123 and the call would automatically be transferred to the nearest Domino's store, the order received and the pizza delivered in 30 minutes.

The single number has been established with MTNL's free phone service wherein a subscriber applies for a number in Delhi and this number is then linked to the various cities in India.