Starbucks never really took off in Australia. We just couldn’t get behind the sickly sweet, whipped cream covered combos that our American friends love so much. Starbucks quickly realised that our local coffee was way too good to even compete with, ultimately leading to the chain closing 61 stores in 2008 with a $143 million loss, and selling their remaining 24 stores to the Withers Group, which operates 7-11, in 2014.

Popular pizza chain Domino’s (ASX: DMP) isn’t having that problem in Japan, having just opened the country’s 900th store. This makes them the first Domino’s Pizza Enterprises market to reach the milestone.

The announcement comes a mere nine months following the opening of the 800th store. Owned by local franchisees, the chain has an adapted menu designed to appeal to the individual market.

The 900th store was opened in the Yamanshi Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo and is the fifth for the region.

Domino’s Japan is also looking at hiring a record number of new team members, aiming to onboard 20,000 new employees putting the Company on track to open their 1000th store in FY23.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Group CEO and Managing Director, Don Meij said: “With high quality franchisees including Shimafuji-san, a menu offering that resonates with customers, and world-class delivery times- we are confident Japan will soon be one of the largest Domino’s markets in the world.”

Since their first store opened in Winnipeg, Canada in 1983 Domino’s has become the largest pizza company in the world and is now present in over 90 international markets.

For the Half Year ended 31st December 2021 the chain reported global food sales of $2.05 billion, up 11.1%. Their underlying NPAT however fell 5.3% to $91.3 million.