[quote name='jaykrue']Agreed. But I wouldn't place the blame solely on Dominoes. It's a combination of factors. You've got the internet, which, like the
/pizza command in EverQuest II, made pizza delivery convenient & people lazy. Then you've got cheaper, bigger flat screen tvs (plasma, lcd, etc.) so movie night is more fun & inexpensive at home rather than going out to a theater where they charge you an arm, a leg and the soul of your firstborn. Also, since gas is getting up in there in price, it's also more cost effective for the corporation to absorb transportation costs since they can presumably make that money back unlike a family of four who probably won't see a monetary return on that pizza. I think most fast food places (including Pizza Hut) will eventually phase out the dining in portion and just become drive throughs.[/QUOTE]
A nice theory, but completely overthrown by a lack of downward trends in box office takes for movies (so people aren't staying away from theaters, as implied by the "you can get the inexpensive night at home" argument), in addition to people continuing to use more and more fuel - we're sure as shit not driving any less or using less oil than we used to (even when not considering countries like China). Just the US. We're still spending on stuff, just not dine-in Pizza Hut.
I think VG is onto something with coupons. At any rate, if the "people aren't spending as much money" argument held true, you would see widespread declines in restaurants, rather than a decline in one particular type of one particular chain. Moreover, the successful chains that have emerged in the past decade or so (Papa John's, Donatos, others I'm sure) have (in my experience) rarely included dine-in areas of their storefronts. They're almost all del/cos. I think that (this is pure opinion) "pizza" is no longer a "dining out" food. Related to your suggestion, jaykrue, people aren't dining in...but that's not because of the economy, but a pizza dinner just ain't something to sit around a table and eat. Not any more. It's something to grab, throw on a paper plate, ignore your company at home, and rally 'round the modern American cultural centerpiece, the TV, and watch the big game. So, there's (IMO) the cultural element that pizza = food, but pizza =/= meal, as well as the conditioning via coupons that you're getting shafted by dining in - not only do you have to pay full price, but you have to tip on that as well!
All that said:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34832