Papa Murphy’s Springfield location is reopening less than two months after closing and losing all its workers.

The pizza chain, at 1930 N. Bechtle Ave., is taking applications to staff the restaurant, which will reopen Sunday .

“It reopens with a new owner, new management and new staff,” said Mike Witmer, a consultant who has worked with Papa Murphy’s for five years. He helps open restaurants.

“I have no idea what happened (to former staff), but we put out there that people who were old staff are more than welcome to reapply.”

Witmer said he did not know why the previous owner closed the restaurant and said that the old owner also left town. Papa Murphy’s would not disclose the name of the franchise owner.

In a previous interview, a corporate spokeswoman said the store closed because of low sales performance.

The Springfield location is now owned by Mike Bousman, who also owns Papa Murphy’s stores in Centerville and Beavercreek. He was unavailable for comment at the time of this report.

Witmer said he is confident the Bechtle Avenue area will provide plenty of customers.

“We’re very excited to be in Springfield,” he said.

The restaurant has already hired seven people who were being trained on site Thursday morning.

“We’re absolutely always looking for good people,” Witmer said. He doesn’t know how much staff they will actually need, he added.

“If it gets really busy then we’re going to hire more.”

Papa Murphy’s marked the second restaurant closing on Bechtle Avenue since September, although both were replaced or reopened very quickly.

T.G.I. Fridays at 1720 N. Bechtle Ave. closed in September, but was replaced in only a week. Roosters, a Columbus-based wings restaurant, purchased the building for $1.1 million and is already open for business.