Porch Notes
The Pizza Empire That Started With a Borrowed $500 — and a Volkswagen
History and culture
Here’s a story that’ll make you rethink the next pizza box that lands on your porch. In December 1960, two brothers from Michigan — Tom and James Monaghan — took over a little pizza shop in Ypsilanti called “DomiNick’s,” right near Eastern Michigan University. They didn’t have much. They put down $500 and borrowed $900 to make the deal.
The plan was for the brothers to split the work. But James had a steady job as a postman and didn’t want to give it up for the long, unpredictable hours of running a pizza joint. So within about eight months, James made a trade that would become the stuff of business legend: he handed his half of the company back to Tom in exchange for the used Volkswagen Beetle they’d been using to deliver pizzas.
Think about that. A Volkswagen Beetle. For half of what would become Domino’s Pizza.
Tom kept going. The original owner wouldn’t let him keep using the “DomiNick’s” name, so in 1965 the shop became Domino’s Pizza. The famous logo — three dots — stood for the three stores Tom had at the time. He dreamed of adding one dot for every new store, but gave that up pretty quickly once the company exploded. Today Domino’s is the largest pizza company in the world, with more than 22,100 locations in over 90 markets as of December 2025, and the company is headquartered in Ann Arbor.
As for James? He went on to work for the post office and the Ypsilanti schools. By all accounts he made his peace with it — but oof, what a trade.
Where to see it
The original store stood at what's now 301 West Cross Street in Ypsilanti's 'Depot Town' area near Eastern Michigan University — a fun spot to walk, eat, and picture where it all began. Domino's world headquarters sits at Domino's Farms in Ann Arbor Township, where you can also see a famous Frank Lloyd Wright–inspired collection.