ELY – A new Domino’s store is gearing up to open here soon. The popular national pizza chain will be located in the former Pizza Hut building (and most recently Two Gringos) on Sheridan Street.
Owner Duane Carlson, of D&S Pizza Inc., who owns several Domino’s franchises in northern Minnesota, including Duluth, the Iron Range and International Falls, is in town these days helping with the building renovation.
“Our Ely expansion has been on the books since the beginning of 2021,” Carlson said. “My growth agreement with Domino’s has us locked in for five stores. Adding a location in Ely works for us.”
Carlson said he lives in International Falls and travels to the Ely area and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for recreation.
“Now I can mix business with pleasure,” he said.
Carlson is leasing the former Pizza Hut building from the Alley A Realty development company of John and Tanner Ott, who have renovated many downtown structures in Ely.
“I can’t say for sure when we will open,” Carlson said last week, adding, “There is a potential for the very end of December, but it is more likely to happen in early to mid-January. We continue to wait on contractors for some of our renovation work. They are just so busy. It is taking much longer than I anticipated.”
Banners with “now hiring” information were hung up last week at the Ely store.
“We started hiring people and are beginning with on-the-job training in our other stores,” Carlson said. “We would love to see 20-25 employees here in Ely, and potentially more when we are in full operation.”
His plans call for the Ely Domino’s store to offer more than delivery.
“We will also have food pick-up and will offer dine-in here, too,” he said. “It won’t be full-service dining, but we will have customers pick up their food and they can eat it here if they like. We will have the full menu that Domino’s offers. We have the benefit of having a national supply chain, so we won’t be dealing with shortages or delivery delays of our product.”