Pizza chain a big hit in Kota Kinabalu

(From left) Pizziol, George and Ba U attempt the blowpipes to launch the event that marks Domino’s entry in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

KOTA KINABALU: The opening of Domino’s Pizza’s first restaurant in East Malaysia was a record-breaker of sorts.

The restaurant opened up here on Malaysia Day and marked an all-time new record for the highest number of opening week sales of a new store in the Asia-Pacific region this year.

Domino’s Pizza Malaysia and Singapore chief executive officer Ba U Shan-Ting said the store, located along Jalan Bundusan near here, also broke the Malaysian record for best opening week by almost double.

According to Ba U, the store sold about 10,000 pizzas in its opening week and made six figures in sales.

“That record has been standing for the last 21 years. It has been truly amazing. This could not be done without the support of the wonderful people of KK.

“To Sabahans, we want to apologise for taking so long to get here. We are humbled and overwhelmed by the support we received.

“We want this brand to succeed here in Sabah. We are going to do all we can so that you get the best Domino’s experience in this wonderful state of Sabah,” he said at the official launch on Wednesday.

Domino’s Pizza Malaysia and Singapore executive chairman Datuk George Ting said available opportunities and convenience were factors for the company in selecting Sabah to open up its first East Malaysian store.

“It all boils down to opportunity. We had the opportunity to open up a store in Sabah and we took it.

“It is also very convenient as we have a number of Sabahans working for us in Kuala Lumpur. With them back in Kota Kinabalu, it was much easier for us to jumpstart our business here,” he explained.

There are currently three Domino’s Pizza stores in Sabah located in Riverson Walk, Bundusan and Inanam.

Some 100 Sabahans have been employed to work at these locations. Another two branches are expected to open by year end at Sulaman and Penampang.

The grand opening at Riverson Walk was officiated by Domino‘s Pizza International’s Asia-Pacific regional vice-president Steven Pizziol.