"Wall of Fame" Franchise Owner Profile: Noreen Hale

Noreen Hale is the owner of a Nick-N-Willy's in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In our franchise family, she is what many would consider a superstar franchise owner.

For Noreen, the dream of opening a pizza restaurant began soon after the events of 9/11. The enormous tragedy which rocked the nation, really hit home for Noreen. Her husband was working as a pilot and the aftershock of 9/11 made them think they needed to make some changes in their lives. For Noreen, that change would mean working closer to home and building a business their young family could grow with.

So in 2004, Noreen and her husband chose to partner with the Nick-N-Willy's Franchise Company and make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Noreen says they absolutely loved the pizza and were sold on the take-n-bake concept. Noreen was savvy enough to know though that it was going to take alot more than just a great product to make her franchise successful.

She was going to need to get her pizza into as many people's mouths as possible through promotions, special events and community programs.

And that's just want she did. Since she opened, Noreen's been actively involved in her community with groups like Special Olympics Wisconsin and the local high schools. Most recently, she participated in Kenosha’s Great Pizza Bake-Off in the support of the Boys and Girls Club. She even managed to win the most votes in her category and her restaurant was honoured as Kenosha’s Best Local Pizza Chain for the sixth year in a row! ( To read the full article in the Kenosha News click here: http://tinyurl.com/yzop23k

Noreen is also proud to have helped to raise over $200,000 for a range of different non-profit groups through her fundraising card program. The chain-wide program works by selling the pizza gift certificates to non-profits for just $1. The cards are then re-sold as part of a fundraising campaign for $10, allowing for a profit of $9 on each card sold. Outside of fundraising, Noreen is also active in many school programs. Most recently, she participated in Pleasantary School’s (TNT) “Try New Things” workshop where she presented on nutrition – because pizza can be nutritious – especially at Nick-N-Willy’s!

It helps that Noreen has an education in public relations and therefore, understands the value of relationship building in the community. She also used to work as a teacher and TV personality so training her team of employees and acting as a mentor has been a natural fit! She's proud to be the “mother” to a large team of employees many of them who have stayed with her from high school through to college. As an added bonus, both her sons have taken an interest in her business and are the backbone of her staff.

If you live in the Kenosha area or are ever passing through, please make sure to stop in at Nick-N-Willy's at 7435 117th Ave on Hwy 50 and pay a visit to Noreen and her team!

A Day in the Life of "Nick", the Pizza Box Man at Sundance

The day started with a little snow which worried our friend "Nick", the pizza box man. He had a full day of pizza deliveries ahead of him to hundreds of festival volunteers, but even just a bit of snow could cause serious damage to a guy made out of cardboard!


Knowing that the volunteers depended on him and that a hot slice of pizza was the best cure for anyone’s appetite on a cold winter day, Nick was determined not to let the slushy snow get the best of him. He headed into the Park City Nick-N-Willy’s to start preparing for a busy day ahead of pizza deliveries. He helped to get the oven fired up and the prepare all the fresh ingredients to the quality standards of a Nick-N-Willy’s pizza. Nick and his team then went to the streets armed with pizzas, salads, and focaccia sandwiches ready to feed hundreds of hungry festival volunteers.

While delivering pizza from one theater to the next, Nick was desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of a few celebrities amongst the crowds. Just as he was pulling up to make his final pizza delivery at the Eccles Theater, he thought he saw actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman jumping into a taxi. The event is crawling with movie stars and film makers. If only Nick could get a box of pizza into their hands!

Star struck, he forged on to deliver piping hot pizzas to the eagerly awaiting volunteers. As he entered the theatre he was greeted like a celebrity by all the volunteers who were thrilled to be receiving Nick-N-Willy’s pizza. This couldn’t have made Nick more pleased as he passed out all of his favorite pizza recipes like the Aegean, Taste of Tuscany, and the Big Kahuna. He became even more proud as he heard encouraging comments from around the room like “I love the sauce!”, “Delicious!”“The crust is amazing!” and even, "This is the best pizza I’ve ever had!"

Nick could feel his box cheeks flush and his cardboard knees go weak. This was the reason for his existence - to spread his passion for Nick-N-Willy’s and his love of pizza.

Walking back to his car Nick glanced at his watch seeing it was only 2:30 and as much fun as he had making everyone so happy, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to take in a slice of the slopes to reward himself for all the hard work he had done that day. He dashed over to the mountain where he was able to get in a few runs (very carefully) prior to closing time.

As night time began to fall upon Park City, Nick had an “out of box” experience as he reflected on the day’s events and knew that each person he met today would remember him and the delicious pizza he provided. As he laid his box head to rest, he fell into a deep sleep and dreamed of pepperoni slices, gooey cheese and crispy thin crusts being enjoyed by all.

The Real Stars of the Sundance Show.

It's no doubt that the volunteers at Sundance are an integral part of making the event run efficiently. Some may say they're actually the real stars of the show here. The Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization, therefore it relies heavily on donations, sponsors and the dedication of thousands of people - many of whom don't get paid a cent.

Festival volunteers enjoying our pizza.

We've noticed the volunteers everywhere at the resort. They can be seen in the theatres, at the info booths and the box office, and even directing traffic. This year 1,600 people have graciously donated their time to be a part of this world renowned festival. Sure, they get to see some fantastic screenings and are fed great meals from Nick-N-Willy's pizza, but for the most, they're worked hard over the course of the 10-day event.


We had the chance to speak with Emily Aagaard, the Manager of the Sundance Festival Volunteers, to learn more about how the volunteer operation works, why Sundance values having a pizza sponsor this year, and what the volunteers really think about Nick-N-Willy's Pizza!

Interviewing Emily Aagaard, Manager of Sundance Festival Volunteers

Click here to watch our video interview - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lk4wsg1YVM

Sundance Fever

Party time at Sundance - Legacy Lodge Opening Party

The moment had finally arrived. After months of anticipation we touched down in Park City, Utah and found ourselves in a mystical winter wonderland buzzing with excitement about the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Right away it was apparent that everyone we met was absolutely thrilled to be here. The volunteers were incredibly enthusiastic to help direct us to the Eccles theatre for our first screening and provide insight into where and how to meet the stars. They were even more eager to help us out when they found out we were their pizza provider! Many of them had already been served our pizza and were already anticipating their next delivery!

Volunteers enjoying our pizza

Even our hard working crews at Nick-N-Willy's in Salt Lake City and Park City were getting into the spirit of the festival with their branded chef hats and newly hung window signage. Starting tomorrow the orders are really going to start pumping out of our restaurants, especially in Park City.

Nick-N-Willy's staff in Salt Lake City (top) and Park City

Nick-N-Willy's VP of Operations, Paola Rossi and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the premiere screening of "Restrepo", a war documentary that was both shocking and fascinating. Following that, we headed for the Sundance Opening Night Party at the Legacy Lodge.

Inside the Sundance Opening Night Party

This uber-artsy extravaganza boasted four floors of film industry movers and shakers schmoozing the night away. We had a blast trying to keep up with the crowd and met a few savvy locals who shared some serious Sundance "how to" tips.

Tanis Sullivan, PR Manager and Paola Rossi, VP Operations, strike a pose at Sundance

Within just a few hours of being here, we can definitely say we've caught Sundance fever, and we've only just scratched the surface of our adventure here.

WALL OF FAME - Nick-N-Willy's Valencia

What do you get when you mix delicious pizza, a worthy cause and an afternoon of fun? The ultimate pizza party, of course! That's exactly what happened last weekend when Nick-N-Willy's celebrated the new ownership of its freshly renovated restaurant in Valencia, California.

Franchise owners, Ray Shirani and Abbas and Sean Moshrefi, along with Nick-N-Willy's President, Richard Weil treated the people of Valencia to an afternoon of free pizza samples, live music and family festivities with face painting, balloon twisting and a pizza making contest just for kids. The contest was a fun (and messy) activity that kids of all ages enjoyed. They were invited to get creative and pick any toppings of their choice to make their own special pizzas. Many of them came up with fun ways to make pizza faces and uniquely cheesy creations. The best part for the kids was eating their delicious personal pizzas fresh from the Nick-N-Willy's woodstone oven.

But it wasn't only the kids who got in on the pizza making action! Local school representatives battled it out in a pepperoni pizza making competition called the Nick-N-Willy's "Compete For A Cause" contest. They tossed, rolled, slathered and sprinkled their way to pizza perfection in what was an extremely close race. In the end, it was the Principal of Rancho Pico High School who reigned supreme, winning a donation of $600 for her school.

Santa Clarita Mayor Frank Ferry also joined in the festivities to officially open the restaurant and present a grand opening certificate to the new Valencia franchise owners. As part of their community giving program, Ray, Abbas and Sean made a special donation to the Firemen's Memorial Fund.

Local radio station KHTS - 1220 AM conducted a live radio remote for part of the day. Announcer, Jon Dell conducted a number of interviews with the franchise owners, Richard Weil, the Mayor and some of the people attending the grand opening.

All in all the event was a huge success and a great way to kick off many more pizza parties at the Nick-N-Willy's in Valencia!

http://www.nicknwillys.com/