COEUR d'ALENE - Jim Hightower likes pizza.

He really likes artisan pizza.

Good thing, since he's Domino's Pizza franchise co-owner in Coeur d'Alene and Hayden.

"This is not the normal, traditional pizza you're going to order when you call and say give me a pepperoni and sausage," he said.

Nope. This one is a little different. Gourmet pizza, they call it. It's on the lighter side, fewer calories. More of a rectangular shape than round.

People like it.

Since it came last week, the local Domino's have been sending the gourmet pies out the door every day. They roll in and out of the 509 degree oven every six and a half to seven minutes.

"It's going over really good," Hightower said Monday as he created a pizza at his Neider Avenue store.

"Our menu continues to expand and get better, because Domino's has been listening to what consumers want," he said. "Our customers have loved our Artisan Pizzas since the beginning, and they asked for an option with premium chicken. We are thrilled to introduce this delicious new product to our customers in North Idaho."

During the fourth quarter of 2011, Domino's had global retail sales of nearly $2.2 billion, comprised of $1.1 billion domestically and more than $1.1 billion internationally.

Domino's Pizza had global retail sales of more than $6.9 billion in 2011, comprised of nearly $3.4 billion domestically and more than $3.5 billion internationally.

The latest pizza includes an inspired blend of marinara and Alfredo sauce, grilled chicken breast, smoked bacon, cheese, diced tomatoes and a dash of oregano on an artisan-style crust.

"We had no idea that someday Domino's would put us in the gourmet pizza business, but today when we look at our operations and our menu, it's astounding," Hightower said.

This adds to the three existing Artisan Pizzas: Spinach & Feta, Tuscan Salami & Roasted Veggie and Italian Sausage & Pepper Trio.

"When my wife and co-owner Melissa and I started with Domino's in the early 1990s, we featured fast delivery as the key to success. Our pizza back then was OK, but few of our customers ever ranted and raved about how great our pizzas were," Hightower said.

Domino's concentrated on making pies as fast as it could and delivering them in less than 30 minutes, which is what built its brand.

He said it's not just the specialty pizzas that they feature on their menu, but the individual customer's ability to build their own, that makes it great.

There are about a dozen gourmet toppings like feta cheese, roasted red peppers, sliced Italian sausage, deli-style Philly rib eye steak, fresh spinach, garlic, parmesan-asiago and provolone cheeses that can be added to any pie.

"You combine traditional toppings with 5 different kinds of crust, and any customer has a multitude of options to build a pizza that is their own custom dinner project" concluded Hightower.

Domino's offers customers handcrafted, gourmet Domino's Artisan Pizzas for $7.99 each, available every day.

Info: www.dominos.com.