On the farm

'U' regent takes Domino's post

In a brand new office in a familiar city, University Regent David Brandon (R-Ann Arbor) began his new job today as chief executive officer of Domino's Pizza Inc.

"I think Domino's is a great company," Brandon said. "It's a leadership company with a strong brand name ... a lot of opportunity for continued growth and opportunity in the future."

Brandon's new job at Domino's Headquarters brings him back to Ann Arbor, where he lived while attending the University in the early 1970s.

The first pizza Brandon had delivered to him came to his South Quad Residence Hall room from a local Domino's pizza store, Brandon said. The pizza delivery system shocked him because he lived in a rural area of Michigan before coming to Ann Arbor, h

JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily Domino's Farms is the location of Regent David Brandon's (R-Ann Arbor) new office. Brandon was recently named CEO of Domino's Pizza.

e said, and the idea of pizza delivery was new to him.

The search firm for Bain Capital Inc., a Boston-based company that bought-out former Domino's owner Tom Monaghan when he retired in September 1998, searched for a new CEO to replace Monaghan.

"I was contacted by the executive search firm who was conducting the search for Bain last fall," Brandon said. Just before the end of the year - and the start of his term as a regent - Bain called Brandon to officially offer him the position.

Brandon said his work with Valassis Communications Inc. helped him get the position at Domino's.

Although Valassis is a different type of company than Domino's - making newspaper inserts rather than pizzas - Brandon said he thinks his former experience will help him in his new position.

"It's a company and industry I understand well," Brandon said. "This is a little bit of a different industry, but Valassis was involved in franchisement."

Domino's, with sales totaling more than $3.1 billion in 1997 and recently boasting its 1,500th store opening, is a much bigger company than Valassis, whose revenue hit $741 million in 1998.

"Valassis had a tremendous track record of growth," Brandon said. A small company in the '70s when Brandon took over, Valassis has recently made the list of the 100 best companies to work for in the nation, he said.

Brandon said he likes Domino's pizza very much and his predominantly teenage family - including a daughter whose 13th birthday marked his first day of the new job - eats a lot of pizza. But Brandon said he does not forsee large changes being made to Domino's.

"The company is very healthy," Brandon said, "It's not broken."

Workers at the Central Campus location of Domino's said they would offer suggestions to the new CEO if he wanted them.

"I would like friendlier management," Domino's employee Brian Schneider said, adding that he'd like the company "to be more in-touch with the campus students."

But Brandon's new position did not impress Schneider as much as the three-story office he will occupy.

"His bathroom is worth one million dollars," Schneider said, remembering a tour he took of the Domino's headquarters. He added that the bathroom had "gold-plated fixtures."

03-16-99