Omaha Exploration

Before getting involved in Godfather’s Pizza, Willy Thiesen was working as a leasing agent at an apartment complex in Omaha. In 1973 he opened a bar next door to those apartments called Wild Willy’s at 5430 S 99th Street. It featured a horseshoe shaped bar, wagon wheel chandelier and dance floor. True to its name, it was wild with fights and even a situation in which a pool cue was broken over a bouncer’s head. 

As Willy opened his bar, his friend Gregg Johnson opened a takeout pizza joint next door called Godfather’s Pizza. The name was inspired by the hugely popular Godfather movie along with its motto “an offer you can’t refuse”. The two realized that a lot of people who bought pizza next door would carry it into the bar to eat it. To make it easier, they added a takeout window between the two businesses. Running afoul of liquor laws as Godfather’s didn’t have a liquor license, they merged the two businesses by tearing down a wall separating them in 1974. 

With its thick crust, the made-from-scratch pizzas at Godfather’s proved to be hugely popular as a local alternative to national takeout chains such as Pizza Hut. The chain with the catchy name had video games and a pool table and a menu that also offered sandwiches and lasagna. It even offered free delivery to the apartments that Willy once worked at. 

Several months later, the partners decided to part ways with Willy buying out Gregg’s share of the business. Gregg moved to Kansas City where he opened another pizza chain, Minsky’s Pizza. Meanwhile, Willy added an all-you-can-eat salad bar which was a relatively new concept at the time. Willy sold the first Godfather’s franchise to an owner-operator in Columbus, NE. It was just Godfather’s second location.

As the pizza chain grew from one to 44 locations within two years, Willy would go on to hire veteran Omaha actor J. William Koll to act as the Godfather in television commercials starting in 1976. With his popular catch phrase “Do iiiiit”, the chain exploded. By 1979 it was named the nation’s fastest growing fast-food franchise with more than 450 locations. At its peak it was the 34th largest franchise and ranked 369th out of the top 400 largest food and lodging companies. It had over 1,000 locations and ranked in the top three largest pizza chains. When asked the secret of Godfather’s success, Willy said it was due to his unwillingness to compromise on ingredients, pointing out that each large pizza has one pound of cheese. As the chain grew larger and larger, they had also outgrown the original location which closed in 1982.

At the age of 34 years old, Willy had acquired more wealth than he ever thought possible. Despite his success, he continued to work tirelessly seven days a week while being a huge philanthropist in the process. Its headquarters were relocated to Costa Mesa, CA before returning to Omaha in 1985.

That same year, Willy sold Godfather’s to Pillsbury who named Herman Cain CEO of the pizza chain in 1986. By this time, sales at Godfather’s began to suffer having slipped from the third largest to the fifth largest pizza chain by 1988. During his tenure, Herman closed more than 200 locations while eliminating several thousand jobs in the process. In doing so, he returned the company to profitability.

He went on to purchase the company from Pillsbury along with a group of investors in 1988. He stepped down from his position as CEO in 1996 but remained on as a chairman until 2002. He was succeeded by Ronald Gartlan who bought his portion of the company in 2009.

By 2018 Godfather’s had shrunk considerably with just 465 locations – still large enough to place it inside the top 20, however. Today it has grown to over 600 locations in 43 states.

As for Willy, he pursued a number of other business ventures in addition to serving on the board of the Omaha Airport Authority; board of directors at Creighton University; University of Nebraska’s Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Franchising; Metropolitan Entertainment Convention Authority (MECA); among others. He also received multiple accolades over the years including an honorary doctorate degree from University of Nebraska at Omaha; Better Business Bureau Award of Distinction; induction into the Nebraska Business & Commerce Hall of Fame; Greater Omaha Chamber Business Hall of Fame and Omaha Restaurant Association Hospitality Hall of Fame.

Willy got back into the pizza business though on a much smaller scale when he opened Pitch Pizzeria in Dundee in 2009 followed by a second location Village Pointe.

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