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.” In 1991, the Donatos Pizza in Zanesville, Ohio, opened as the company's first franchise location. As of 2019, there are about two dozen franchisees operating more than 100 Donatos Pizza locations in ten states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. 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. During this period Donatos also had operations in Munich, Germany. In 2017, Donatos founder Jim Grote led a $1 million seed round in BeeHex, the 3D-food printing company with NASA origins.
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. In 2004, the company introduced Donatos take and bake pizza in Kroger supermarkets. 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 showUndercover Boss. During the episode, 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, 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.
''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.
