261. Bouncing Back from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina @PizzaTodayMagazine

Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 5 minutes ago

George Peyton and Casey Conner never could have imagined their first year of business at Good Pizza Company in Swannanoa, North Carolina would unfold as it did. The pizzeria opened on August 15 and a mere six weeks later, the town of Swannanoa would become one of the hardest hit natural disaster areas in the aftermath of the devastating Hurricane Helene. The former pizzeria that the two spend months remodeling took on 10 inches of water forcing the team to pull out floors, walls and equipment that was damaged in the flood.

George and Casey didn’t flinch and quickly started to rebuild their business so they could serve their community that still struggles to recover, while also helping their neighbors. When they were able to reopen, there was a huge outpouring of the community. Hear more of the heroin story.

Good Pizza Company hit another high when George took second place in the Southeast of the World’s Best Cheese Slice Division at the International Pizza Challenge during Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in March. The brothers took that win back to their community to celebrate. We talk more about what has happened after the win.

Read local news coverage: PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaeB68ZKL7pHVv4fuMuDYJjoVNf2NAmNXiojexznSWRDshQiTv3EPT5uPC9cNQ_aem_zAt46BmdQGI_hV_cmsXZbA

Learn more about Good Pizza Company on Instagram: instagram.com/good.company.pizza

261. Bouncing Back from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina

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$231. Getting my Pizza into Walmart with Katie Lee Katie Lee owns Katie’s Pizza & Pasta with three locations in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Recently, the pizza company scored a huge client for its frozen pizza line to be sold in Walmart grocery stores starting in mid-to-late 2025. We get into what went into such a lucrative retail deal. There is so much more to Katie Lee’s story. She shares her background, how she started her business and what led her into the frozen market. For more details on the Walmart deal, see the following release: Owner Katie Lee and Culinary Director Chef Jake Sanderson received the news onsite at Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, immediately following their pitch, which focused on Lee’s unrelenting drive to grow the brand and keep doing more to share their award-winning offerings with a wider audience. Only a fraction of the hundreds of businesses who pitch thousands of products during Walmart’s Open Call receive the prestigious Golden Ticket offer. “We did it! We got a Golden Ticket,” said Lee. “It’s the American dream come true, and we’re so proud to expand into Walmart. We’re so grateful to our St. Louis fans who have supported us as we started offering frozen pizzas through our restaurant business during the pandemic. We dreamed big and expanded into local grocery outlets, nationwide shipping, then moved into wider retail distribution, and now Walmart.” Katie’s is outperforming the strong frozen pizza category with over 100% growth year over year for the past three years, which is 10 times the growth of the entire category. What sets the Katie’s frozen pizza line apart is the team’s commitment to hand-crafting the premium artisan pizzas daily with scratch ingredients. Katie’s is the only restaurant of its size that makes pizzas and pastas by hand for retail, raising the bar on packaged frozen food. Going the extra mile ensures freshness and quality in every hand-stretched wood-fired pizza. Following the 2021 renovation of its frozen production facility, Katie’s frozen pizzas and pasta bakes became available at local St. Louis grocers Dierbergs Markets and Straubs. Growth continued with additional expansions into retailers including Fresh Market, Fresh Thyme, Kings-Balduccis, Mothers, Whole Foods Markets and more. About Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Katie’s Pizza & Pasta’s promise is to create moments of enjoyment between friends and family through passion-filled food and warm hospitality. Katie Lee’s dream to bring hand-made, in-house artisan and Neapolitan pizza to St. Louis began through one location under the ownership of her father, Tom Lee, in 2008. Today, KPP includes three locations. KPP Rock Hill opened in 2013 followed by the Town & Country location in 2017. The largest location opened in 2023 in downtown St. Louis’ Ballpark Village featuring a pasta-making station, wood-fired grill, expansive patio, private events space and in-house market selling to-go items. Katie’s portfolio of fresh and frozen pizzas, pastas and sauces are available at many grocery retailers and shipped nationwide. Since 2014, KPP’s “Giveback Tuesday” program has donated over $470,000 to St. Louis-based charities. To learn more and sign up for our newsletter visit KatiesPizzaAndPasta.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X to see the latest.$

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