“In Rome, be Roman” is a popular saying meant to convey the message that wherever we are we should do the same as the people of that culture do, such as eating traditional Italian pizza in Italy. Perhaps that’s why Domino’s Pizza didn’t work out in Italy, as it went ahead to open a business in the country that is the birthplace of pizza.

The fast-food chain, which operates through the ePizza SpA franchise, has operated 29 restaurants in the country over seven years, but declared bankruptcy in early April. As part of the insolvency process, 90 days of creditor protection is guaranteed.

The bankruptcy followed a combination of falling sales, rising costs, high debt and a “massive increase” in competition from traditional Italian restaurants through apps such as Glovo, Just Eat and Deliveroo, according to documents obtained by the Financial Times. ).

In early 2020, the North American chain announced plans to open an additional 850 restaurants in Italy, as well as reach a 2% market share by 2030, but the pandemic has made achieving those goals more complicated.

According to FT, Domino’s stopped taking orders on the Italian site on July 29 and is joining a list of US chains that have struggled to break into the Italian market and impress local consumers.

One example was the first Starbucks in Italy in 2018, which was met with skepticism — since then the brand has only had one establishment in Milan, but CEO Howard Schultz hopes to open two more cafes in Rome and Florence.