• James “Red” Williams ran successful businesses in the automotive oil, screen-print and car-wash industries before taking the pizza plunge with Westside Pizza.
• Founded in 1996 in Washington State, Westside Pizza is known as the home of the Death By Pizza Challenge.

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Texas-based Westside Pizza franchisee James “Red” Williams is what you might call a serial entrepreneur. He’s built successful business ventures in the automotive oil, screen-print and car-wash industries. More recently, he delved into the pizza biz, and he’s already looking to expand.

Williams and his family opened their first Westside Pizza store in Lubbock, Texas, earlier this year. According to a press release, they’re planning to expand quickly with an area development deal to open nine additional locations in the next nine years.

Founded in 1996, Westside Pizza began in the small Washington State town of Colville. The company began franchising only three years after opening. Fast forward 26 years later, and Westside’s franchisees now operate a total of 38 stores in Idaho, Washington, California, Texas and Utah.

Westside Pizza says it expects even greater expansion of its brand with more than four stores currently in development, a majority of which are being developed by multi-unit franchisees.

The Westside Pizza menu features specialty pies like the Tropical Heat (pepperoni, sausage, cooked tomatoes, jalapenos and pineapple, plus a blend of basil and Parmesan) and the Death By Pizza (pepperoni, Canadian bacon, sausage, pineapple, beef, mushrooms, olives, onions, green peppers and bacon). The latter pizza is an 18” behemoth and the subject of the Death By Pizza Challenge, with customers invited to eat an entire pie in under one hour. Winners of the challenge receive a free pizza equal to the worth of the Death By Pizza pie, a T-shirt, a cash prize and a spot on Westside Pizza’s Wall of Fame.

According to Westside Pizza’s website, the company served more than 1.3 million pizzas in 2021 and delivered about 981 pizzas a day from each of its 38 locations.

Click here to learn more about franchising opportunities with Westside Pizza.