ATHOL – It’s been a fast food restaurant, a medical office and pharmacy, and yesterday at 4 p.m., a new tenant opened its doors at 321 Main St.
Final touches and inspections for the new Domino’s pizza restaurant were being made just prior to its public opening. Athol Building Inspector Robert Legare confirmed the official opening of the restaurant.
Owner Keith Bell said he chose to open a Domino’s restaurant in Athol after looking at the population base and towns around it. Bell is based in Vermont but was familiar with the area through a softball league. “We like to have locations downtown,” he said. “Our true hope is that we’re busy enough to have to have a second store.”
A staff of employees from other Domino’s restaurants will be on hand to assist while the new, all local hires learn their jobs. There are still staff positions available, especially for drivers.
Bell started as a delivery driver and over the years worked his way up to being the owner of nine other stores located throughout New England. He said Domino’s is a chain, not a big corporation and that all employees “have a chance to go up in the system” and can buy ownership into a store.
Bell said as a rule, the delivery route for the Athol restaurant extends to about nine minutes out, and the goal is to have orders ready in 10 minutes for pickups and delivery within 22 minutes.
The Athol Domino’s is open Sundays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to midnight, and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. For more information, call 978-330-7676 or visit dominos.com.
Job applications are available online only at www.jobs.dominos.com.
Bell said a date for a ribbon cutting will be set at a later time.