Companies rarely tell you that they have a bad product, but in rare cases, accepting the need for change and acknowledging the problems helps transform a brand.
In 2009, for example, Domino’s shared some of its internal focus group videos on YouTube.
“Those video sessions were brutal. Consumers hated Domino’s pizza. In one video, a woman said, “Domino’s pizza crust looks like cardboard to me.” Another added: “The sauce tastes like ketchup.” “Worst pizza I’ve ever had,” said a third Business age.
This proved to be the start of the company’s “Pizza Turnaround” campaign, a reboot of the brand based on the recognition that its core product needed refinement.
Dollar Tree does the same, but only admits that many of its stores are “substandard” and plans to fix them, rather than running ads with those words.
In addition, the chain has committed to closing a number of locations in 2026.
Dollar Tree makes a startling admission
Domino’s admitting its bad pizza worked because even bad pizza is pretty good, and even though sales were down before this ad aired, the company still sold a lot of pizza.
Dollar Tree’s recognition is a little stronger because its stores are its product, and it says so many of them have significant room for improvement.
“So you talked about making progress on the initiatives that you presented at the Investor Day. I think one of the ones that really stood out was your gold shop goals and how most of your shops are mostly low quality by your own standards. So can you help us understand the progress you have already made in improving store standards?’ he asked.
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CEO Michael Creedon hit back at him, pulling no punches.
“And just to correct, I think 42% is what we showed. So most were not below our standards. But where the average retailer is chasing 15%-20% of their stores, we were chasing 42% below our standard,” he said.
The chain, he added, has lowered that number.
“So this is what I showed at the Investor Day; it is considerably high. Today it is less than 1/3. So we didn’t disclose it. But I’ll tell you right now it’s less than 1/3, still not what we want, but a significant improvement,” he added.
Dollar Tree, Creedon noted, has 9,400 stores, “and it’s hard to change those big QE2s. I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made over the last year.”
The process, he shared, became easier.
“And as more and more stores exceed our standards and get closer to that grand opening every day, the ones that remain are easier to manage just because of the volume. Every room in your house is a mess, it takes longer to clean. When you start cleaning room by room, it becomes easier to clean the kitchen,” he said.
Dollar Tree no longer limits many stores to the classic $1 price tag. Shutterstock
Dollar Tree made a smart call
A case study to Domino’s for the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) revealed the plan used by the pizza chain.
“Reception is interesting. It’s humanizing. When a company admits their mistake, they start to seem human, fallible and vulnerable. Admission changes the perception of intent,” ARF shared.
Essentially, it’s a way to change the narrative.
“What might have seemed like a deliberate act of greed or dishonesty instead looks like a mistake or bad judgment. But most of all, recognition lays the foundation for new relationships. It’s like a reset button. There can be no true reconciliation without admitting wrongdoing,” the association added.
Domino’s actually released a new product alongside its ad, while Dollar Tree took a different approach, sharing that its fixes are in the works.
RTM Nexus CEO Dominic Miseradino thinks Dollar Tree played it well.
“The genius of it is very simple. Transparency doesn’t just buy you time, transparency buys you trust. When you allow yourself to mess up, it completely changes the narrative with both your customers and your investors because you’re finally validating what they’re seeing with their own eyes,” he told TheStreet.
Dollar Tree’s task, he noted, is more difficult than what Domino’s had to accomplish.
“When Domino’s admitted that their food tasted bad, all they had to do was fix the recipe and retrain the kitchen staff. Dollar Tree has to build a sprawling brick-and-mortar empire of over 9,400 stores. By being brutally honest about how bad things are, they earned the trust they needed to deliver,” he added.
Dollar Tree is closing stores
While Dollar Tree plans to renovate most of its fleet, some stores will be closed rather than remodeled.
“As previously reported, we plan to open approximately 400 new stores and close 75. We expect gross margins to be roughly flat, driven by improved markdown performance, partially offset by higher freight costs,” Stuart Glendinning said during fourth quarter earnings reports.
The chain did not share a timetable for the closures, but some have already taken place.
Store tracking data ScrapeHero shows Dollar Tree closed more than a dozen locations in March, including four in New Jersey and three in New York.
