Domino’s abruptly shuttered 13 restaurants in a single state this month – and employees found out they lost their jobs via a text message during the dinner rush.
The impacted stores were all located in Ohio and managed by franchisee Anthony Satterwhite under his company, Mile High Pizza, which had been struggling financially, according to local news reports.
Domino’s said the store closures have nothing to do with the company’s overall performance.
“This is an isolated franchisee matter and is not reflective of the overall strength or performance of the Domino’s brand,” a spokesperson for Domino’s said in a statement.
“We are actively working to transition these stores to new ownership so that customers in the affected communities can enjoy the quality products and service they expect from Domino’s.”
The 13 shuttered locations were located in Mansfield, Canal Fulton, Galion, Crestline, Ashland, Akron, Barberton, Wadsworth and Mount Gilead, according to Fast Company.
As of last year, Satterwhite owned 25 Domino’s restaurants in Ohio. It’s possible some of those locations were sold off between the end of last year and this fall.
Employees were told the stores were closing in a text message on Sept. 4, at approximately 6:15 p.m. on a Friday night, according to the Mansfield News Journal, a Gannett-owned newspaper based in Ohio.
“We were in the middle of our dinner rush,” said Joe Mills, formerly the manager at the Domino’s store in Galion.
Satterwhite wrote in the message that he planned to close all the Domino’s locations on Sept. 6 – but he hoped the employees would continue working their shifts through the weekend, according to Mills.
“I was like, ‘We all just got fired,’” said Mills, who read the message out loud to everyone working at his restaurant that night. “I was like, ‘We’re all done.’ And that was it. Like, everyone just walked out.”
Impacted employees are concerned they might not receive their final paychecks, while customers are furious about their unfulfilled orders.
“People are saying, ‘We placed an order and we didn’t get our money back,’” Mills said. “It’s like, well, there’s nobody there to cancel your order.”
Domino’s has consistently won market share from Pizza Hut, officially snagging the title as the largest pizza-restaurant operator in the country in 2017.
But shares in Domino’s are down nearly 30% so far this year.
In the second quarter, US same-store sales growth slowed to just 0.1% – far below the 3.4% pace of growth the same time last year.
In June, Yum! Brands announced it is selling Pizza Hut to a private-equity firm for $2.7 billion after years of lagging sales.
Earlier in the year, the parent company announced plans to close 250 Pizza Hut locations.
Papa John’s has also been shuttering dozens of locations.