Helena Cappon
Co-owner and Operator, Gub Gub’s Pizza and Ice Cream,
Walsenburg, CO
October 25, 2024
Helena Cappon stands in front of 21 pizza-eating college students in Walsenburg, Colorado, and explains how she and her fiance, Thomas, started Gub Gub’s Pizza and Ice Cream. She motions across the busy intersection, and says, “We would sit in that Carl's Jr. parking lot, during the pandemic, and have little dates and eat our cheeseburgers over there. And I would joke to him, I'd be like, buy me that gas station.”
Helena is originally from Denver and lived on Long Island, NY from ages 5-10. She met Thomas at the University of Denver and graduated in 2019. When the pandemic hit in 2020, she moved in with her parents, who had a house in Walsenburg.
Helena recounts why she and Thomas wanted to start a restaurant in the first place: “Being students from low-income backgrounds in very different communities, one thing that really brought us together was our passion for creating more resources and opportunity… especially in a low-income community in rural America, like Walsenburg.” Walsenburg is the county seat of Huerfano County, the poorest county along I-25 in Colorado, despite the 3.5 million-plus cars per year traveling through Walsenburg on the interstate. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Walsenburg was a booming coal town. Unfortunately, Walsenburg was hit hard by the coal market’s decline, with the last area mine closing in 1973. The city population was just 3,049 in the 2020 census, down from its peak of 5,596 in 1950.
Helena’s dad, Jack Cappon, is a contractor specializing in restaurant renovations. Thomas is a baker and 5th-generation Walsenburgian. “We were like, let's use the skill set we have to make the most impact that we can,” Helena says. The trio originally thought they would open a bakery, but Walsenburg already had bakeries. Helena shares, “I read an article like three years ago, saying that most successful main streets in the United States include an ice cream shop, a pizza shop, and a bookstore.” In a city devoid of mom-and-pop pizza shops, Helena, Thomas, and Jack decided to fill the niche.
Jack named Gub Gub’s after the family cat, which is named after the pig in Dr. Doolittle. Gub Gub’s first opened in 2021 at the Walsenburg Mercantile, a business incubator. For business advice and a dough recipe, Helena turned to her childhood pizza spot: Carlo’s Pizza in Port Washington on Long Island. Helena notes that it “took a couple years to figure out the altitude and the dryness.”
As Gub Gub’s served pizza over the counter at the Mercantile, Helena, Thomas, Jack, and their families worked to convert the old gas station at 7th and Main into a vibrant pizza establishment. Finally, in the summer of 2023, Gub Gub’s got funding for tank mitigation, allowing them to move forward with renovations. Gub Gub’s had its grand opening on October 19th, just six days before our Semester in the West (SITW) group visited.
Locals and travelers sat under the former gas station canopy and enjoyed hot and fresh pizza. I walked over to a picnic table under an umbrella, and took a couple slices from the pies Gub Gub’s had made for SITW. Gub Gub’s bakes their pizza at 600°F in a natural gas oven. The slices folded well. The chewy dough, oregano, and low-moisture mozzarella tasted just like the New York-style pizza I grew up eating in Portland.
A ring of car tires and building blocks sat invitingly in the corner. “We do not have a ton of… public parks and spaces for kids,” Helena said. “We don't even require people to buy stuff to come and hang out. We have, like, $1 ice cream cones and stuff so they can get a little treat and just go nuts and hang out.” After finishing our pizza and conversation with Helena, 21 Westies went nuts, jumping around on the car tires, building block towers, and of course, enjoying $1 soft serve. We left Gub Gub’s with full stomachs, full hearts, and a newfound appreciation for rural entrepreneurship.
by Jackson Schroeder