Donatos Pizza

Donatos Pizzeria, LLC
Private (family-owned)
Industry Restaurant
Founded 1963
Founder Jim Grote
Headquarters Gahanna, Ohio, United States
Key people
 Jane Abell (Chairperson)
Tom Krouse (CEO)
Products Pizza, subs, salads
Website www.donatos.com
Donatos Pizza Home Office
The original pizza restaurant on Thurman Avenue in Columbus is still one of the busiest and most successful locations.

Donatos Pizza is a pizza delivery restaurant franchisor headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It has nearly 200 locations in ten states, with the majority of locations in Ohio.[1] Donatos is also served at several venue outlets including Ohio Stadium[2] and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.[3]

History

In 1963, Ohio State sophomore Jim Grote purchased the original Donatos located on the south side of Columbus, Ohio for $1,300. Grote's business principles included: creating a superior product, hiring great people, and to "treat others the way I would like to be treated". These principles led to the creation of the official brand promise To serve the best pizza and make your day a little better.”[4]

In 1999, Donatos was purchased by McDonald's in an attempt to enter the pizza industry. A majority interest in Donatos was repurchased by Jim Grote and daughter Jane Grote Abell in 2003 as McDonald's sought to refocus on its core business.[5] During this period Donatos also had operations in Munich, Germany.[6]

In 2017, Donatos founder Jim Grote led a $1 million seed round in BeeHex, the 3D-food printing company with NASA origins.[7]

In 1991, the Donatos Pizza in Zanesville, Ohio, opened as the company's first franchise location. As of 2017 there are about two dozen franchisees operating more than 100 Donatos Pizza locations in ten states: Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado and Virginia.

Products

Donatos is known for its thin crust pizza "loaded Edge to Edge" with toppings, particularly its large pepperoni pizza that includes 100+ pepperoni slices. In 2009, Donatos launched a hand-tossed pie-cut crust option.[8] In 2004, the company introduced Donatos take and bake pizza in Kroger supermarkets.[9] In 2015, they introduced NatureCrust, a 10” organic, non-GMO, vegan, multi-grain crust, which is now available in a handful of locations. Donatos also offers a variety of oven-baked subs, freshly made salads, chicken wings, shareable sides, and desserts.

Undercover Boss

In 2013, Donatos was the subject of an episode of the CBS reality television show Undercover Boss. During the episode (Season 5, episode 3, air date October 11, 2013), Jane Grote Abell, the Chairperson of Donatos and daughter of its founder Jim Grote, went undercover posing as a contestant on a reality TV show who was trying to win money to open her own restaurant. During her first assignment at the Donatos store located at Ohio State University (where she had actually attended college during the 1980s), Abell's cover was blown in her first few minutes by the manager of the store who immediately recognized her despite wearing glasses and a brunette wig over her normally blonde hair, though she was able to convince the manager to keep her identity a secret for the purposes of the show.[10]

The Missing Piece

In 2015, Abell released a book entitled THE MISSING PIECE: Doing Business the Donatos Way, in which she recounts the story of Donatos and offers leadership insights gleaned from her Donatos career.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Donatos Pizza Franchising". www. donatospizzafranchise.com. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
  2. ↑ "Lucky Horseshoe". Stadium Journey. Archived from the original on 2011-08-08. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
  3. ↑ "Food Available at the National Air and Space Museum". www.nasm.si.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-06-08. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  4. ↑ "About Donatos". www.donatos.com. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
  5. ↑ "Jane Grote Abell". Franklin University Leadership Center. 2003-12-15. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  6. ↑ "Donatos Pizzeria Corporation". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
  7. ↑ "Donatos founder invests in startup's 3-D pizza printer". Fox News. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "Hand Tossed or Edge to Edge?". Greatest City of All. 2003-12-15. Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  9. ↑ "Donatos Pizzeria joins take-and-bake fray with Kroger kiosk". Pizza Marketplace. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
  10. ↑ Undercover Boss US Season 05 Episode 03 Donatos
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