Domino's Pizza Inc., the nationwide pizza delivery company, has taken over 24 local Domino's stores from franchisee LOOC Inc. and closed five of them.
The parent company, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., took over the stores in Baltimore, Baltimore County and Howard County Monday, according to Hoyt D. Jones, regional vice president based in Linthicum.
"We're still in transition," he said, adding that stores may be consolidated or relocated. The five closed stores, which were shut for "economic" reasons, will be included in the evaluation, he said.
Mr. Jones would not disclose the terms of the purchase or why the parent company took over.
David R. Smith, the owner of Timonium-based LOOC, did not return calls to his office yesterday.
There will be no layoff of the approximately 500 workers at the 24 stores, Mr. Jones said. "All employees will be kept and spread out throughout the area," he said.
Formed in October 1987, LOOC had an exclusive franchise agreement for Baltimore and Baltimore County. The franchise's name -- which stands for "the least of our concerns" -- was management's response to lawyers who kept pestering them for a name when the franchise was being formed, Mr. Smith told The Evening Sun in a 1988 interview.
Mr. Smith, who is in his early 40s, joined Domino's as a management trainee in 1973, when the company had only 40 stores. He rose to the position of vice president for the Northeast and Midwest before starting LOOC.
At the time of the 1988 interview, LOOC was operating 19 stores and was considered one of the most successful in the chain.
But since that time, several pizza delivery operations have sprung up to challenge Domino's.