 "Photo: Brandon Chapple ~ Daily Egyptian")
Tim Reiman is getting back to his roots.
Reiman, a Carbondale native and SIUC graduate, said he plans to expand his Murphysboro pizza business to include a Carbondale branch at 803 E. Walnut St. in the former location of Domino’s Pizza and Dough Boy’s Pizza.
“I’m investing in the town I grew up in,” Reiman said. “It’s my home. It’s a perfect fit.”
Randi Barnard, a senior from Murphysboro studying fashion design, said she saw a sign announcing the Carbondale Whiffle Boy’s location and was thrilled.
“It’s delicious,” she said. “I eat there at least a couple times a month.”
Robert Williams now works at Whiffle Boy’s in Murphysboro and will manage the Carbondale location.
“It’s a fantastic location for the proximity,” said Williams, who worked at the location when it was Domino’s. “We’re close enough to campus that we can serve campus fairly quickly and accurately as well as being able to serve the surrounding community.”
The store is reopening after being vacant for several months.
Dough Boy’s Pizza owner Chris Newby disenfranchised his Carbondale store to open Dough Boy’s in October after 10 years with the Domino’s company.
“We changed our name because we wanted to become a local pizza delivery company that can serve better quality pizza at the price people can afford ... and operate the way we want to operate,” Newby said in a Nov. 4 article in the Daily Egyptian.
In November, Newby said his finances were fine, but he thought Domino’s had sacrificed quality to compete with other pizza chains and wanted to manage his pizza establishment on his terms. According to a report from the Detroit News in November, banks were refusing loan requests from long-standing customers, forcing some of the roughly 8,500 company-owned and franchised Domino’s stores to close.
By opening Dough Boy’s in the same location as his Domino’s franchise so quickly, Newby violated his contract as a franchisee, according to Domino’s franchise contract terms.
By December, Dough Boys was closed and the building was vacant.
Barnard said she would encourage those unfamiliar with the chain to take advantage of its new location.
“I think it’ll go over well,” Barnard said.
Williams said he thinks Whiffle Boy’s stands a better chance for success in the location because its menu is broader than the previous pizza companies and offers food made with fresh, instead of frozen, ingredients.
Reiman said the location was nearly snatched up by Domino’s corporate offices, but the owner was more willing to lease to someone local. Reiman secured funding to lease the building through friends, family and the bank he used for the Murphysboro location, he said.
