#FlashbackFriday: Spotting Some Domino’s Pizza History at the Exchange
On March 13, 1990—35 years ago this week—Domino’s Pizza opened a store on Fort Bliss, the chain’s first on a military installation.
According to an El Paso Times article about the opening, Domino’s had spent the past decade targeting military bases and college campuses, seeking a slice of the youth market.
Domino’s already delivered to Fort Bliss, but having an on-post location was a bonus: The chain believed that Soldiers would have pizza on their mind more often if they happened to pass a Domino’s every day.
“People in the military run on hectic schedules,” a Domino’s spokeswoman told the Times. “They will look to convenient service.”
The Bliss location offered takeout and delivery only. According to the Times, negotiations and bidding for the lucrative contract took a year. The only mention of it in circa-1990 Exchange Posts is a brief February 1989 article about the Exchange awarding the contract to Domino’s.
Pizza was already a big deal at Fort Bliss: the first Anthony’s Pizza opened there on May 1, 1987. The Anthony’s has since closed but Domino’s still has a Bliss location.
The Exchange’s first direct-operated Domino’s opened in summer 2013 as part of a new 95,000-square-foot mall at Kirtland Air Force Base. The Exchange currently has 39 Domino’s locations, but no direct-operated ones (although there is still a location at Kirtland).
Here are a few Domino’s photos from the Exchange Post archives and the Exchange History Flickr album:
From 2008: Soldiers line up for Domino’s Pizza at a Fourth of July fund-raiser for Fort Sill Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs. Domino’s sales raised $12,000. Other Exchange restaurants also participated.
From March 2020: During the COVID era, three Fort Bragg Domino’s associates prepared 310 pizzas for paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team in quarantine after arriving from nine months in Afghanistan. Pictured are paratroopers checking out the delivery.
From 2024: A line for a Domino’s trailer at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates.
Sources: Exchange Post archives; “Pizza-maker goes for military dough” by Stephanie Townsend, El Paso Times, March 13, 1990; Newspapers.com
