Colfax Westside Pizza sold to Othello man

Alex Zollinger is the new owner of Westside Pizza in Colfax. Zollinger is hoping to expand the Colfax location to be able to include a dine-in option and also to add online ordering. He also hopes to expand his ownership of Westside Pizza businesses. He currently owns two, one in Colfax and another in Othello.

The ownership of Westside Pizza has changed hands, and with it, new possibilities have opened.

Ownership transferred to Alex Zollinger of Othello from Steven Helvik April 1. Zollinger now commutes between Othello and Colfax.

“The old owner wanted a change of pace, so I offered to buy it up and take it over,” Zollinger said.

Zollinger had not previously worked in the Colfax location, but he has owned the Westside Pizza in Othello since August of 2013 and also previously worked for Westside Pizza in Kingston and Bainbridge Island. Zollinger said he is excited to now also be in Colfax.

“We want to try to get some marketing going, maybe some boosters with sport organizations in town,” he said. “And we're trying to be on top of consistency with food quality.”

Zollinger said last week new-to-them ovens were installed, and a new pizza making line will be installed soon. He said more updates are coming.

“We're doing a little updating and upkeeping and looking into the possibility of expansion and dine in,” he said. “That's not 100 percent, but we would like to have that possibility.”

Zollinger said he and Helvik spoke back and forth for about two months before making the deal. He said when the deal was made everything happened quickly.

“Very quick and seamless,” he said.

Zollinger added that he not only hopes to expand the Colfax business, but wants to grow in general.

“My goal is to expand,” he said. “I want a lot of stores.”

He is looking into other possible locations and listed the Tri-Cities as an expansion opportunity. For now, he said, he is focusing on the Othello and Colfax stores and keeping business up.

“We always want to hear from customers. We can't improve if we don't hear about the negative, and of course we love to hear about the positive,” he said. “We want to help the community out via fundraising, too.”

Zollinger said right now each order is coming with a menu and a “Support Colfax Little League” brochure. Additionally, he said he is looking into options for adding a system which will allow customers to order pizza online and through smart phones.