Seth Emerson wants to give you a night off from cooking.
Is your kitchen 85 degrees in the summer before you turn on the oven? Did you have an afternoon meeting that just wouldn’t end? Do you need to feed the kids something before you shuttle them on to their evening activity but don’t have a lot of time? Then call Seth. He’ll make sure you have had a dinner you didn’t have to cook.
Emerson is the voice telling you the specials when you call Mahomet’s Domino’s Pizza. He hires and trains the 15 crew members who work there. He may even show up at your door with your order. And as of January 1, 2015, he added a new title to his role at Domino’s: Owner.
Emerson is no stranger to the Mahomet store, located at 201 S. Lombard St. He has worked there 13 years. He can say he worked there twice.
“The first time, I quit after one day,” he said with a laugh. His auto insurance didn’t cover him being a delivery driver, so he had to quit. After a week or so, Emerson returned to the local store and told the manager he wanted to work there, he just couldn’t be a deliver driver. This time, the job stuck. This was in May, 2001, shortly before his graduating class from Mahomet Seymour High School would walk across the stage. Emerson graduated early from high school.
Emerson said he quickly had a series of promotions and within two or three years, he was made general manager of the local franchise. But he wasn’t done yet.
While Emerson was general manager, “Our profits increased 110 percent in a year,” he noted. He also proudly added the Mahomet Domino’s was an overall top store in the state of Illinois.
Sometimes a person needs their friends to point out the obvious. This is what happened to Emerson during his bachelor party in August 2012.
“One of my buddies said to me, ‘so, have you bought the store yet’?” Emerson said this conversation with his friends, a lot of whom he met while going to school in Mahomet, made him think.
“I called up the current franchisee and told him I wanted to buy the store,” Emerson recalled.
A lot is involved in buying a franchise, according to Emerson. He filled out a lengthy application. He attended Domino’s franchising school in Michigan to learn the financial and legal aspects of owning a business. He had to write a business plan and pitch it to a banker. He did all this while continuing as general manager of the Mahomet store, delivering pizzas, and having a wife and kids.
By September 2014, Emerson had gotten things in order to buy the store. The deal became final on January 1, 2015.
But a local man purchasing the franchise for a local restaurant is just the first part of this story. The next part involves Emerson’s dedication to Mahomet, the place his family moved to at age 4. The place he has chosen to raise his family. The place he proudly calls home.
If you look closely when you drive by the store, you’ll notice the Domino’s logo is different from the large sign that stands on the corner of Lombard St. and Franklin St. when compared to the logo on the delivery vehicles. That is because the Domino’s Corporation has “reimaged” or updated its look. Because of this reimaging, Emerson said the Mahomet store will get a new look too.
For the contractors who will do the remodeling “I’ve kept all the money in Champaign County,” he stated proudly. “Almost all if it is in Mahomet.” Emerson said he was unable to find a company in town to replace the large sign on the corner. He had to use a company out of Champaign Urbana for that.
The remodeling will begin July 6 and is slated to last for two weeks. The store will not close during that time, although there will be adjusted hours, said Emerson. A grand reopening will be August 7.
The remodeling primarily involves updating the lobby and the front counter area. Emerson said he wants his customers to be able to see everything when they walk in the front door. There will even be an area where children can stand on a small platform and watch how their pizza is being made from assembly, to baking, to boxing. Emerson said he has nothing to hide. “I want to be transparent.”
Emerson also said he wants to make his store the best in the area. Already, he knows people drive to Mahomet from Champaign for his pizza.
“I want to be a great store. I believe we can be the best and have fun while we are doing it,” he said, adding he has learned to keep his employees happy and they in turn will keep the customers happy.
Emerson using local companies to improve his store is not the only example of his commitment to Mahomet. Ask any Mahomet Seymour school principal.
“Seth has been a tremendous asset for the junior high school and a wonderful educational partner” said Heather Landrus, principal of Mahomet Seymour Junior High School. “He has supported us with our extracurricular programs.”
“He was given 500 Domino’s gift cards by the corporate office and said we could use them however we chose to raise money for needed materials. Our wrestling team was in need of a new mat, costing about $8,500… We elected to have our wrestlers sell the cards for the suggested $10.00 and use the proceeds toward the new mat. We could not have done this without Seth’s help,” Landrus explained.
Emerson said he gave the same amount of gift cards to the high school music department to help partially fund the upcoming trip to the Fiesta Bowl.
Emerson helps the schools and community organizations in other ways too. First and second grade students who help out in the Sangamon cafeteria during lunch receive, among other forms of “payment,” a coupon for a free small Domino’s pizza.
Not for profit groups, like Cub Scouts, are charged $7.50 for a large pizza. They then can sell those pizzas at school or community functions for $2 slice to raise money.
Emerson also works with other community groups to benefit his hometown.
“Seth approached me approximately 1 ½ years ago to ask if we needed anything for the junior high school,” Landrus said. “I told him we needed a new score table for the gymnasium. He recruited area businesses to donate to the cause, and we were able to purchase the new table for our sporting contests.”
Emerson said he approached the Fisher National Bank and the Masonic Lodge to raise these funds.
This work for the schools and community has earned Emerson another honor. He said he has been named to the Board of Directors for the Mahomet Area Chamber of Commerce.
When Emerson reflected on his role in his community, he talks about the schools he attended from preschool through 12th grade, his best friends, one he met in Kindergarten, one in 1st grade, and his community.
“I’ve seen Mahomet grow in a great direction,” Emerson said. “This town gave me the opportunity to be who I am today,” he said proudly.
Emerson also credits key people in his life who have helped him achieve his goals: His wife, whom he met at Domino’s. His mother, who supported her son no matter what. His grandfather, who told him “there’s power in the pizza” and encouraged Emerson to pursue a career at Domino’s. Lastly, he credits the crew he has worked with over the years.
It is this crew he encourages to follow their dreams. And if their dreams include becoming a general manager of a Domino’s store, Emerson said he has told them he will take them along with him. He hopes to purchase more franchises and grow more successful stores.
But his first love will always be the store in Mahomet. His hometown. The place that gave him opportunities to become an entrepreneur and community leader.
