The British company Domino’s Pizza Group has decided to exit markets in Iceland, Sweden and Norway, RÚV reports. The company used to own Domino’s Pizza in the country but now intends to sell their ownership. Domino’s Pizza restaurants will stay open in Iceland regardless, says Birgir Örn Birgisson, director of Domino’s Icelandic branch.
On its website, Domino’s Pizza Group’s Chief Executive Officer, David Wild says that despite solid performance in the UK and Ireland “the performance of our international business remains disappointing”. This has led to the company’s decision to exit markets “in an orderly manner”. The company’s measures began earlier this year with its withdrawal from Denmark, but now other Nordic countries have followed as well.
Birgir Örn Birgisson, the head of Domino’s Pizza in Iceland says that even though the company will relinquish ownership, he intends to keep the franchise open in Iceland. “For us in Iceland this doesn’t mean any change to the business. We’ll continue our operations as before, and we are doing well. The other markets have been struggling so [Domino’s Pizza Group] decided to throw in the towel”.
Asked about how Domino’s Pizza Group intends to carry out the sale of the franchise in Iceland, Birgir says the company hasn’t made it fully clear. “But that’s what they intend to do. They’re going to sell it as Domino’s. They need clearance to do that from the Domino’s headquarters in Ann Arbor. This will take some time to sort out.”
Domino’s Pizza has 24 restaurants in Iceland, with about 800 employees. But Birgir is quick to point out that despite ownership changing hands, Domino’s restaurants will remain open. “For Icelanders there will be no change, we sold our restaurants to Domino’s Pizza Group three years ago and things didn’t change then so I don’t anticipate any chance now either”.
