Our Story

High School Sweethearts with the Perfect Ingredients: Art & Karen

You can’t put them in a box.

Art and Karen Wicklein took a chance and it’s paid off in more than dividends for their family, community, and other hopeful franchise owners. Here’s where it started and where it’s headed…

Art comes from the corporate world, as an engineer who has business smarts and supply chain experience. He always felt constrained inside the corporate world and cubicle. Karen has an education and marketing background, and as she reflected on the future, she felt the same thing; a desire for something bigger, more meaningful, and that she could call her own.

The high school sweethearts and Antioch natives decided to take a leap, and naturally bought a Pizza Shop! It sounds crazy, but the pair had the perfect ingredients for their business, a passion for community. They decided that the foundation of their business would be to become the “crust of the community”, fiercely supporting schools, churches, local businesses, sports organizations, and everyone in-between, by giving more than is taken. This model has made their pizza shop nostalgic, cozy, the foundation of their community, and a delicious slice of home for locals and travelers from all over the world.