Domino’s Pizza Store Owner Greg Fox, president of Pizza the Pie LLC and Becca Boo Pies LLC
Greg Fox is 23 years into his second career, one he started after a 500-game National Hockey League career that began with a late 1970s rookie season playing for the Atlanta Flames.
Since returning to Atlanta in 2006, when he acquired 15 local Domino’s Pizza stores, he has grown his enterprise to 40 locations with over a dozen of these based in Gwinnett. Now he’s ready to share his secret recipe for success.
From locker room to calling the shots
As President of Pizza the Pie LLC and Becca Boo Pies LLC, Greg Fox has replaced the locker room with coaching his team of upper managers, the ones responsible for the ongoing success of his Domino’s Pizza stores. Collectively, among the 40 locations throughout metro-Atlanta and in Columbia, S.C., Fox employs close to 500 and he’s looking to add roughly 100 more to his team.
“I have a good team in place. We’re completely, locally owned, supporting and hiring from the communities where we operate,” says Fox. “The secret is to run well-managed stores. Everyone has to be on their game and know their role.”
His work ethic as a fundamentally sound and consistent hockey player has served him well in climbing the ranks at Domino’s Pizza over two decades, and in establishing his stores as a thriving business model. The career journey for this athlete turned business owner is one that exemplifies the possibilities available to aspiring entrepreneurs willing to work their way from the ground up to achieve success.
Fox reveals, “So many people at Domino’s who are franchise owners, like me, started out delivering pizzas. The beauty of Domino’s is the culture of hiring from within, giving employees the chance to successfully manage or supervise Domino’s stores, then on to ownership.”
Retiring from the NHL after the 1985 season, in 1990, Fox went to work for Domino’s Pizza corporate at the company’s world headquarters. There he learned the ropes before earning the chance to manage a store that then led to taking on the responsibility of supervising a group of Domino’s locations.
A mere six years later, Fox started a Domino’s franchise in Cape Cod, Ma. He seized the opportunity to move back to Atlanta, in 2006, when acquiring a block of stores from another franchise owner who was retiring. Fox expanded his geographic footprint, in 2008, with the acquisition of more stores in Columbia, S.C., and added to his metro-Atlanta enterprise by purchasing 11 Gwinnett stores from Domino’s corporate, in 2011.
With plans to bring on two to three new employees per store by year’s end, Fox confirms that hiring practices at Domino’s Pizza are very stringent. His team utilizes Domino’s electronic on-boarding software via careers.dominos.com to identify candidates.
“There is an extensive screening Q&A process to determine if applicants meet criteria and to narrow the candidate pool to those qualified,” explains Fox. “We are strict about the kind of people we consider for employment and candidates go through extensive screening,” such as background checks, drug testing and examining motor vehicle records for delivery personnel.
“We demand integrity. Honest, hardworking individuals with friendly smiling faces – we can’t teach that. We can teach them skills,” Fox continues. “I want the friendliest, most efficient people with a talent for customer service. I want employees to be successful. I want them to see their roles as a springboard to even greater opportunities with Domino’s.”
Fox’s stores are realizing positive double-digit growth over the prior year. He attributes this success to a number of key factors: new product development, bold market strategy and a focus on differentiation.
“It’s no secret that in 2010, Domino’s Pizza took a huge risk in changing its formula for dough and shared that fact with the public. The return on investment of that advertising campaign has been unbelievably successful.” The new product mix now accounts for roughly 20-30 percent of sales for Fox’s stores.
At the store level, Fox says, “Hiring the right team is a game-changer. Speed in the store can make the difference in a 22-minute versus a 30-minute delivery window. This is an arena only Domino’s can play in – we’ve built a heritage and legacy.” Each store serves a limited delivery area to give drivers plenty of time. Within 10 minutes a homemade pizza leaves the store.
Fox feels his stores’ strategic advantage, and the secret to his success, comes from the collective strengths of fielding a great team, producing a great product, and emphasizing proper training to hone production and delivery skills that engage customers and keep them coming back to do “business with a friend.”
