Domino's US Sales Lag

ANN ARBOR, MI-Domino’s Pizza’s sales took a hit during the company’s third quarter, due to what the company’s top executive calls a “general softness in consumer spending.” Domestic same-store sales were down 3.1% year over year, while total revenues fell 3.2%, to $326.7 million.

“We didn’t wake up one morning and forget how to operate,” said David Brandon, Domino’s chairman and chief executive officer, during the company’s quarterly conference call. “We’re just in a market where traffic is very hard to come by for everyone.”

In fact, some of the chain’s competitors are having a rougher time, he says. “Pizza Hut has struggled far more than we have in the environment,” Brandon says. However, he acknowledges that Papa John’s is currently the leader in the national, pizza-delivery environment.