The Connection

There’s a new look at Domino's in Potomac Oaks Shopping Center at the intersection of Travilah and Glen roads.

The formerly carryout-only store has expanded, added seating and child-friendly touches like a big blackboard wall and chalk for drawing and steps up in front of a Plexiglas wall for watching the “Dough Show.”

There is no table service but customers can come in, order pizza, sandwiches, pasta, salads, even desserts and eat there, Ed Treacy, owner of the franchise, said.

Treacy, who grew up in Potomac and still lives in the area, has owned the Potomac Oaks Domino’s franchise for 22 years and is a story of success and community, according to Guy Semmes, who owns the shopping center.

Semmes said the expansion of Domino's and addition of seating meets a need in the community.

“We need that at that shopping center because we have the new park [Greenbrier Local Park on Glen Road] and the museum [Glenstone] going in,” Semmes said.

Treacy’s success story began when he started working at a Domino’s Pizza in Tenleytown in Northwest Washington delivering pizza. But maybe it started before that.

“I had read about Domino’s and they were unique in the business,” Treacy said. “The harder you worked the better you did. I loved the fact that you controlled your own destiny.”

Treacy said he had always wanted to own his own business, so went with Domino’s full time when he got out of college.

He worked his way up from behind the wheel to behind the counter to manager of the Tenleytown store and, within seven years, bought two stores from the franchisee he worked for: the one at Potomac Oaks and one in Damascus.

That was the part of the Domino's plan that attracted Treacy in the first place: franchisees mentoring their workers, allowing them to take responsibility, grow with the business and eventually become owners.

He now owns 18 stores, 11 in Maryland and seven in Pennsylvania.

David Dixon manages the Potomac Oaks Domino’s and has worked for Domino’s for 14 years. He is a next generation example of the idea of working to the position you want.

Charles Plunkett is a newbie with only two years in. Both are happy with what they do.

“I love it,” Plunkett said. “I love making pizza, I love feeding people. If you do what you love, you never work a day in your life.”

In spite of the hard work involved in running 18 Domino’s, Treacy said he loves what he does. And he can still fold a pizza box along with the best.

“I love the fact that there’s something different every day,” he said. “I get to work with a lot of young people and a wide range of team members.”

He said his team members range in age from teenagers to retirees, about 350 employees all together.

Domino’s has changed in the years Treacy has worked with the company. It used to be only pizza, only carry out.

“We wrote everything down with pen and paper and had to memorize the streets in our territory for fast delivery,” he said.

Now everything is computerized, you can even sit in the Potomac Oaks store and watch the progress of your order on a large screen. Orders come in and are located on GPS for drivers and even the pizzas themselves are cooked to perfection in time- and temperature-controlled ovens.

Treacy said the Potomac Oaks store is unique among his stores, being in a rural location rather than a high traffic shopping center. But, he said, the community has made it a good place to be.

“We appreciate the support of the community,” he said. “We enjoy interacting with them when they come in.”