February 16, 2006 at 6:18 a.m.
The secret is in the dough for Linwood Pizza family
The secret is in the dough for Linwood Pizza family
Brad started the business with his first store in – where else – Linwood (Wyoming) in 2000. He opened the first Linwood Pizza next door to a store he owns there.
Last year, the Linwood Pizza Lindstrom store was opened and since then, four more stores have opened – in Rush City, Isanti, Coon Rapids and St. Michael.
Son Josh helps run the Lindstrom store, along with general manager Troy Johnson, and said business has been great since opening last year. “It’s probably our best location,” he said.
Becky manages the Isanti store, Jeremy manages the St. Michael store and Justin is involved with general business duties, including marketing, as are his two brothers.
The six stores are keeping the Hanson family busy for now, but not for long. Josh said the family’s long-term goal is to open 42 Linwood Pizzas in several states across the country.
They are currently working to get their first Louisiana store open, near where Josh went to college. They hope to have several stores in that state.
The Hansons place a lot of their success in the capable hands of employee Dick Gross, who is the only one who Brad entrusted with his own dough recipe.
Each morning, Dick arrives by 5 a.m. at the Linwood location to mix and prepare the pizza dough according to Brad’s recipe for all six stores.
When they expanded to six locations, Josh said they knew it was probably too big of a job for one person to handle.
“We told him we’d get him some help, but he said, no, he wanted to do it,” Josh said. “He just loves doing it so much
The sauce is also a Hanson family recipe, one perfected by cousin, Amy, who makes it and also manages the Coon Rapids store.
The menu at Linwood Pizza is simple and the Hansons plan to keep it that way.
“Make a few things, but do it right,” Josh said.
It includes, of course, pizza, from traditional to specialty pizzas like the Linwood Legend –topped with Italian sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, green peppers, onions, green olives, black olives and mushrooms.
Cheese bread, chicken wings and something they call I-Fry round out the menu. I-Fry is a Linwood Pizza crust covered with garlic butter and cheese, served with dipping sauce.
Hanson said the family is proud to contribute to a variety of community activities, including sponsoring the Karl Oskar Days fireworks last year.
“It’s important to get involved in every community that we’re in,” Josh said.
The store is a member of the Chisago Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and just catered a lunch meeting for them.
A new program started is the “Buck Back to School” program. When customers order a pizza and fill out a form with the name of their child’s school, Linwood Pizza will donate $1 to that school.
The Lindstrom location currently has 10 employees who are mostly local high school students.
The store is open for lunch everyday, opening at 11 a.m. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m, Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The phone is: (651) 257-1166.
So when the Hansons are together, is there pizza on the table?
“We have a lot of fun. We eat a lot of pizza, but not every time we get together,” Josh said.
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