Everything But Anchovies has faced increased competition since restaurant chain Domino’s Pizza opened two locations in West Lebanon and Claremont this past fall. EBAs, known for its pizza, wings, pasta and sandwiches, has been a staple in Hanover and a popular choice among students since it first opened in 1979.
The operating hours of the West Lebanon Domino’s location are from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday and stays open until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, whereas EBAs stays open until 3:10 a.m on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. In mid-January, EBAs extended its closing time from 2:10 a.m. to an hour later.
EBAs president Maureen Bogosian said that Domino’s presence has negatively impacted EBAs’ night sales.
“It’s impacted our late night deliveries,” Bogosian said. “They’ve decreased [about] 20 percent in the midnight to 1 a.m. slot.”
Bogosian said that EBAs noticed the impact immediately. She noted that Domino’s has corporate backing, while EBAs and other local pizza establishments in town such as Ramunto’s and C&A’s do not.
“Every time a new restaurant opens up, we feel the competition,” Bogosian said. “It’s not unique to Domino’s. Every time there’s more competition it affects everybody, and then things level out after a while.”
Additionally, Bogosian cited EBAs’ closer proximity to campus, as well as its wider selection of foods, as advantages that EBAs has over Domino’s.
According to West Lebanon Domino’s manager Robert Keene, Domino’s decided to establish locations in the area because of its previous success with locations in college towns. Keene added that the Upper Valley was a growing market with a sizable population, which he deemed “an ideal place to build a store.”
Keene said the two Domino’s locations are locally owned and operated franchises, with Keene himself owning part of the store as a partner. Keene acknowledged that the opening of the Domino’s locations likely negatively affected local pizza places, but this was not the “goal in [them] coming.”
In regards to Domino’s sales, he added that his location has been successful since opening.
“We’re a growing business,” Keene said. “We came here for ourselves to be able to be successful. I’m sure it probably would hurt a lot of different quick-service restaurants – McDonald’s, EBAs, Wendy’s. There’s a piece of the pie to be had here.”
Additionally, Keene said Domino’s does not currently have a company policy regarding how their establishment of new Domino’s locations might affect preexisting restaurants.
“That’s kind of the nature of businesses — to want to grow,” Keene said. “To increase profitability, to increase sales, to stay competitive and that’s what Domino’s has done since 1960 when we opened the first store.”
When choosing between the two establishments, Zeke Carlos ’19 stated that she found it hard to decide which of the two she preferred because she frequently visits EBAs for its specials, but usually chooses Domino’s for better late night food at relatively cheaper prices compared to EBAs. However, she said that between the two restaurants, Carlos believed that Domino’s was “taking over [EBAs] completely.”
“I go to EBAs every Monday for dinner and it’s usually pretty empty,” Carlos said. “I think it’s kind of surprising that on campus I always see Domino’s cars. Even though EBAs is right here I feel like a lot of people just know Domino’s from their own homes.”
Carlos suggested that for EBAs to remain competitive more people would need to know about their daily specials.
“If people knew about the deals EBAs offered, I think that would help them tremendously,” Carlos said.
Anthony is a '20 from Dallas, TX. Anthony plans to major in Film & Media Studies at Dartmouth, and decided to join The D to further his passion for writing. In addition to working with The D, Anthony considers himself a passionate supporter of the Dallas Cowboys and spends his days watching movies, admiring fine art, and using the Oxford comma.
