93
Let’s hear the story of Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry Agriculture, and the people who make it happen. Sponsored by Nebraska's Law Firm® - Rembolt Ludtke.
93
Runza® Nation: Renee (Everett) Sjulin and Dawn (Everett) Amend
There’s nothing more Nebraska than Runza®. In this episode of 93-The Podcast, we dive into the story behind the iconic sandwich and restaurant chain with Renee (Everett) Sjulin and Dawn (Everett) Amend—third-generation leaders of the family that started it all. From a single stand in 1949 to a beloved brand recognized across the country, hear how Runza® became a staple of the state’s culture, community, and cravings. Whether you’re a Runzatic® or just Runza®-curious, this episode is a delicious slice of Nebraska history.
Nebraska, it's not just a place, but a way of life. It's 93 counties that are home to innovative individuals, caring community, and a spirit that runs deeper than its purple story. It's a story that should be told. Welcome to 93, the podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Welcome to 93 the podcast, where we talk about Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry agriculture, and the people who make it happen. I'm Mark Falson, your host for today's episode, brought to you by Nebraska's law firm, Rembolt Lutke. There's nothing more synonymous with Nebraska than Runza. Native Nebraskans who have moved away make it their first stop when they return to our great state. Folks who have lived here, even if just briefly, order runza sandwiches online for shipment. Folks who love someone from Nebraska, send them a Runza greeting card from their website. Founded in 1949 by Sally Everett, it has been and continues to be a Nebraska success story. Today we are joined by two members of the third generation of the Everett family to lead Runza, Renee Shallin and Don Amond. Welcome to Nighty Three, the podcast.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you for having us. Hello.
SPEAKER_01:So Don Renee, the leadership of Runza is currently a triumvirate of three. We're missing one. Who are we missing?
SPEAKER_04:Donald, my twin brother, Donald, president of Runza. So yeah, he's very spontaneous and decided he would head out of town with his wife. But good for him.
SPEAKER_01:So I'm going with the chickened out.
SPEAKER_04:So he and he's here, he's not here to defend himself. So we can pick on him like we did when he was little.
SPEAKER_01:We don't need him. So give our listeners a little background on yourselves. Where did you grow up and how did you ascend to the positions you currently hold?
SPEAKER_03:Well, we grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. And um, you know, I don't even know if it was ever really an option that we wouldn't work for Runza. I think from birth, our our parents recruited us, particularly my our dad, Don Sr. Uh, kind of the one who um really envisioned the whole chain that it is today. Um, so yeah, I mean, in terms of for me, uh my brother and sister are three years younger. And I think sometimes my mom was just, well, I know she had her hands full with Don and Donald. So dad would take me to work, and whatever you the uniform was, they made a miniature one for me. And from the age of three, I would sit on the counter and I'd make drinks. This is before drink bars with car hops, and I literally would make drinks. Hopefully, we're not getting in trouble for labor, child labor loss.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you, Mark. I appreciate that. She'd rub her snotty nose at the end. Exactly.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly.
SPEAKER_04:No, there's no health department out there.
SPEAKER_03:No, but I would um sit up there and make all the drinks. And um, yeah, that's how I got going. And my background's in accounting. I graduated from the University of Nebraska with an accounting degree. And um, yeah, so I've done a little bit of everything since. I'll let Dawn kind of Yeah, same.
SPEAKER_04:I mean, we we really looked up to our big sister, Renee, and we wanted to do everything Renee did. And so yeah, same thing. We um, you know, he put us to work, but you know, we we loved it, we wanted to do it, and he always made it fun. And, you know, hey, come on, we're gonna go mow the lawn. This will be fun, and you know, and we believed him. And uh, so yeah, really same upbringing. And he had us working um in junior high. We would go in and make onion rings every morning on the weekends. So we were the onion Donald and I were the onion ring makers, and um, and then so we worked all through junior high, high school, college, and uh really learned everything about the operations uh at the store level. And so we were all we could all step in and actually manage a location if we needed to. Um, but yeah, I mean, we'd we'd bring our friends with us to make onion rings. They thought that was fun, you know. We'd have a slumber party and then they'd come help out. And um, so yeah. They they clocked in, right? Yeah, they're right. Yeah, I think he I think yeah, I I think he would uh um pay us cash, probably. And then and you know, we loved that. We loved making, you know, having our own money. And uh that's one thing he really taught us was, you know, here's your money and spend it wisely. And um, I can't say I do that now, but so so that's that's one you mentioned a couple lessons your dad taught you.
SPEAKER_01:Can you think of any other lessons that uh Donald Everts Sr. taught the two of you as well as your brother Donald?
SPEAKER_04:Oh gosh, yes. I mean, you know, traveling, you know, flying on an airplane, forget it. You're in the car, we're driving, and we'd we'd drive to Florida twice a year. And everything about travel was something, you know, he taught us how to calculate, you know, our mileage and gas mileage, and um, you know, look for the cheapest gas and now look for the cheapest hotel. And, you know, he had us driving a 20-foot RV when we were 10, 11, and 12 while he napped in the back.
SPEAKER_03:So all of our family secrets. Yeah, no, he but he taught us a lot of things, um, just whether he realized that, you know, hey, I'm really these are lifelong lessons that are so important. But, you know, just things like um worry it, worry about yourself, you know, don't worry about what others have. Um, you know, being jealous is the worst thing you can be. Uh just mind your own business, work hard. Um, those are pay attention to detail. Pay attention to details, quality. That's the one thing about him is quality was number one no matter what. Cleanliness. Always number one. Yep. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:So for our listeners who have never been in a runza restaurant or perhaps never had a runza, can you describe for them if they walk into one of your restaurants what it looks like and then describe what a runza tastes like?
SPEAKER_03:That have never had okay. So for a a runza sandwich, it's ground beef, cabbage, onions, and all kinds of spices baked inside homemade bread. So seven days a week, we each of our locations uh makes these. So even on Sundays, they're making them, they're rolling out the dough, and then the inside this filling that that I just described, that's placed in there. The dough is pinched around it, and then it's panned and they're baked, they're baked fresh. So um it so that's the main product, but we we sell a little bit of everything. Um, I don't know, Don, if you want to take it from there.
SPEAKER_04:Well, we kind of hope they walk into the building and see a clean building and does that come from your dad?
SPEAKER_01:I mean, you mentioned how cleanliness was important.
SPEAKER_04:I mean, he had a certain way we had to mop the floor, you know, mop this side, let it dry, and then mop the other. You know, I mean, he he really paid attention to the details. And so hopefully when our customers walk in, they notice that it's a a clean, quick service restaurant, and then that the the staff, the team members are um friendly. Um, they're gonna see our signature colors um green and our cups are green and yellow, have been for ever and ever, as far as I know. And then um yeah, and then hopefully, you know, get you know, really quality food that um and homemade, runs is homemade, the onion rings are homemade, chili is homemade, um the onion ring dip is homemade, the ranch is is pretty much from scratch. I mean, so um, yeah, we want them to have a great experience um with really quality food.
SPEAKER_03:My earliest memory was going so our our grandma's the one who founded Sally Everett in 1949. And my earliest memory, you know, the early 70s, if she was babysitting me, is we would drive out. She wasn't operating the Runs of restaurant, or was Runs of Drive In at that time, but yet I remember her taking me out there and she would kind of help do some of the bookwork. But inevitably, when we walked in, the very first thing she go over to look at the Runs of Sandwiches, and she would be all over the staff if they were not pinched correctly, baked correctly. I mean, and I remember as a child going, Oh wow, she's really like, but she was she was she never you know embarrassed people, but she was she was on that quality, and I think that that's where her son, our dad, um got that whole quality thing from.
SPEAKER_01:Where was the first Ronzer restaurant or drive-in at?
SPEAKER_03:It's uh out by Pioneer Park.
SPEAKER_01:In Lincoln.
SPEAKER_03:Mm-hmm. In Lincoln, Nebraska.
SPEAKER_01:Today, how many locations do you have?
SPEAKER_03:91.
SPEAKER_01:And what states?
SPEAKER_03:So mostly Nebraska, but Iowa, South Dakota, Kansas, um, Colorado. Colorado. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:So how do uh the two of you and your brother divide up responsibilities within the company?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that's real interesting. I don't know if my dad planned, I don't know if he consciously planned for it to be this way, but literally the day after we gre each graduated from college, we all went to the University of Nebraska, um he had us in certain positions. And um I don't know, I think he really picked out what we would be really successful at. And so Renee was very numbers oriented, immediately learned accounting, did uh does human resources, and then she's also our uh uh I don't know what you want to call it, our social chair. Okay, she's so good at just making sure. She is, she's uh she's the ultimate cheerleader, super sweet. Everybody loves talking to Renee. And um, and then Donald uh and then I came in the office first um because I graduated in three and a half years, but um my daddy for Donald.
SPEAKER_01:You graduated ahead of your brother? I did. Wow, good for you.
SPEAKER_04:And he took an extra semester, in fact.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, I think I think we know why.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, right. That's spontaneous travel. But anyway, so yeah. And then um I started in and he knew I was just very operational. And um right away he put me in learning every anything and everything about our vendors, our vendor contracts, purchasing all of our products. Um, he knew I was probably more of a negotiator. So he kind of put me in that role of negotiating our contracts with all of our vendors, our food distributor, that kind of thing. And then when Donald came in and, you know, a few years passed, I mean, we he our dad asked us, you know, okay, well, someone's got to take over who's gonna be the president. And Renee and I both were like, well, we have small children at home. We're, you know, we're juggling all these things. And we said, you know, it's just a title, but you can have it. Anyway, we know who's really in charge.
SPEAKER_02:Exactly like dad, too. Yeah, right. It's pretty cool. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So he but he was really good at the equipment side. He was really good at the franchising side. He he loved very numbers-oriented finance. Yes, and then he also loves the building side.
SPEAKER_01:So it's almost like your dad. You know, now you have Clifton Strengths Finders, you have other tests that kind of help figure out what people are really good at, strong at, and get them in the right positions where they can succeed. It's almost like your dad had a sixth sense whereby he knew the the strengths of the three of you and said, Let's put you to work and let's get you in the position where you can be successful. And all three of you have been wildly successful, as has Ronza as a result of my.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you for saying that. But yeah, he did. He just, you know, how great for him that he had three children that were excited to be there and and enjoyed their work. And uh, you know, he took every opportunity to teach us. He really was a teacher, not only to us, but his team members. And um, that's one thing when he passed, how many people came out of the woodwork to say, you know, he actually spent time talking to me, asking about me, showing me, telling me I did a good job. And um, you know, so those were some great characteristics that he had.
SPEAKER_01:What's the newest runs or restaurant to come online or open?
SPEAKER_03:Ashland, Nebraska. How awesome that it's just so close, you know, obviously between Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska.
SPEAKER_01:I uh actually stopped at that one a week ago. So it looks beautiful. Ashland is a huge developing area of Nebraska between Omaha and Lincoln.
SPEAKER_03:And uh Are you still the city attorney?
SPEAKER_01:I am, don't hold that against me. I'm also the years. I'm a I'm a proponent of uh the city of Ashland.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So frings. Uh tell our listeners what frings are, and I want to know the backstory and how you came up with that and who who gets credit.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I don't think any of us can get credit probably for the name, but we just, you know, I think we are kind of one of the only ones in the Midwest that have said, you know, we're gonna we're going to do this combination of it because you can't really go to hardly any other places and find it. So I don't know, was that 25 years ago, probably, Don, when we said, let's let's do this. It is not a federal trademark. I will admit that. Um, we just claimed the TM. Um, so Mark can someday talk more about that for people who understand the difference. But um, but uh, but it is it is quite popular. I mean, I do think it's kind of like one of those ancillary things we're known for, you know, that it's like our twist cone. Not very many competitors can you get a vanilla and chocolate twist? They do, you know. So um, those are just great things that we do. But the rings are popular, honestly. Like, yeah, they do.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, my wife told me to ask that question. She says, that is brilliant. Who wants a whole bunch of onion rings? You want your fries and maybe one or two or three onion rings, and that's all you really want. That's true.
SPEAKER_04:True. Yeah, very true.
SPEAKER_01:So the spices that go into a runza sandwich, I am told that is a trade secret of yours, and that's uh you it's on lockdown because it's so special. Is that true? And sort of what sort of protocols do you have in place to continue to protect the secrecy of the spices in a runzo sandwich?
SPEAKER_04:Well, yes, it is true. And I'm the one that that actually is the uh recipe holder, and make sure that our locations have the that package of spices. Is it all in your head? It's no, it is not. But I might have a copy in a fireproof cabinet. We all have it. And um, but yeah, certainly it really is. On I mean, it's our special recipe. We it's an ancient Chinese secret, ancient German secret. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So today, how are most of your restaurants organized? Are there franchisees? Do you have a mix between corporate owned and franchises? How how how is it?
SPEAKER_03:Right. So um uh a little more than half are company owned, so which basically means that um people in the office and our fellow company store general managers and other team members are the um stockholders, shareholders in those. Uh, but the the remaining ones uh are independent franchise locations. A lot of those franchisees were company store general uh managers uh before that. But we do have what we call outside, for lack of a better term, um, outside franchisees as well. But so we're um yeah, close to 50-50, but we do have a few more. And um, I think, you know, at Runs In National, that's what we call our headquarters. Um, you know, we're obviously the headquarters for all of our runs uh locations. And we treat them all like a franchise, even our company store ones, they all abide by the same rules, but that's a big hat we wear. But a really big hat we wear is that we are a management company because at Runs In National, we are overseeing our own couple thousand team members, um uh shareholder relations, that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_04:So yeah, it's really great for our franchisees that they actually, you know, because a lot of uh quick serve, you know, McDonald's, whatever, right? It's mostly franchised. But to work for a company where a good majority of that company also owns their own locations, um we're not gonna make decisions that harm our own locations and our managers' pocketbooks and and things like that. So I mean, we're we have uh a lot of skin in the game and hopefully going to make decisions that helps the entire chain.
SPEAKER_01:So the the the structure, the design of your restaurants has changed over the years. The runza that I always used to go to as a kid is around 56 and Holdridge in Lincoln. The most recent one I've gone into is one of your your newest store in Ashland. Describe for our listeners how a new runza restaurant today is different uh as far as how it's constructed, uh square footage, everything else compared to one of the original ones.
SPEAKER_03:Well, they you know, so construction is very expensive. So, yes, we have tried to uh value engineer those so that they're a little bit more, not quite as much space. However, um our newer ones, it's a very operational focus. I'm not sure that our customers or our guests notice, but 80% of our sales, uh almost 80%, are in the drive-thru. That's that's um, you know, that's a quick service fact, and it's it's the same for Renza. Um, even though we're homemade, people still want the product fast. So the way the kit where the kitchen um is lined up, the kitchen is now oriented closer to the drive-thru, if that makes sense. And so um and everything's within an arm's reach. Exactly. So, you know, when we finish an order, it's usually you're gonna have your French fries frings um finishing that order. So those things are right by the drive-thru. And so um, there's not a wall separating the drive-thru person, uh people taking the orders or whatever. The kitchen is right there. So that's probably the biggest thing. But hopefully the guest, they're just noticing the wonderful different interiors that we have now. We have the wood floors. Um, that's what so even our stores that are um older when they're remodeled, Mark. Um, they may not be able to do, we call this the kitchen flip. They might not be able to do that, but but we are, you know, actively um hopefully having a beautiful, modern, but comfortable interior. We have a timeline inside that just celebrates our history.
SPEAKER_04:That's right. That's a quote from our dad with his actual handwriting or his actual handwritten signature. And um, yeah, more just big words of things that we specialize in and some old pictures of the old runza in the RV we used to drive. Um, you know, kind of a history, right? Don't we have kind of a history little hanging?
SPEAKER_03:We should have had a picture of me making drinks when I was three, but I've never seen that. I don't think it exists, by the way.
SPEAKER_04:Well, and compared to the old, I mean, the old was a green metal roof. Um, so we still have green, but it's more in the awning or something painted um on the outside. And then on the inside, you know, we used to have carpet, we used to have wallpaper, kind of country looking wallpaper and quilted little letters that said, Welcome to Runza. And So now you have mostly, you know, floors that are easier to clean and painted walls and some of these historical wall hangings.
SPEAKER_01:So you mentioned drive-in drive-throughs. My favorite runs of drive-thru is in David City, Nebraska. Can you explain to our listeners why that maybe is a unique one for you?
SPEAKER_03:That's because it's in the town center, but to get a drive-thru in that town, it goes through the building. You know, it has an alleyway in the back. Remember, you know, you're well, years ago there were alleys. A lot of people don't know what an alley is, but you enter from the alley and the city, um, it's a nice little area that you can drive back there, but you enter through there and you go through the building. So to test some people that know what rock and roll runza was years ago at 14th and P, um, that was really our dad's vision. And he had so much fun with that, celebrated the nostalgia of what when he grew up in the 50s. But because drive-throughs are so important, um we did that. That was, I think, a did the same thing. It was a car place, and I don't know, whatever, but did a tunnel car lot a tunnel for interior car lot. Yeah, that that tunnel went through that building in downtown Lincoln. Um, it would go, it went through there to get a drive-thru. And so, but anyway, David City. David City is also the interior, is one of my favorites. So it is an very old.
SPEAKER_04:I think that building, well, it's well over the original brick walls in the dining room.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it's well over a hundred years old. And so it's beautiful. I would barely encourage people to go inside there because that might be one of my most favorite ones. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Your work ethic, the three of you, uh, I've always admired. I've also admired that you aren't uh you are not afraid to just step in and help, but that nothing is beneath the three of you. And let me give you my the example that I always think of. So I was at Rock and Roll Runza when it was still open and it was really busy, and it was like a Friday night, and I can't remember what was going on, and uh the staff needed help because of the how many customers were in there, and I saw your brother go back and he's back making French fries.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, yeah, the the the like you guys just hop in and start helping, and I assume that both both of you do as well. That if you're at a store and things are busy, like how can I help? I'm making you know french fries, uh onion rings, whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_03:I'm gonna brag on Donald, our brother, because they're one of the reasons he's not here this weekend. This weekend, and um he was there. So we are introducing a new product. We're only we're testing it at four stores: Lexington, Nebraska, Minden, Nebraska, Yankton, South Dakota, and Lawrence, Nebraska, or excuse me, Lawrence, Kansas, apologies. Anyway, we're it's called a Bunza sandwich line. So it's kind of a half size of what you would think of a regular Runza sandwich, but the fillings are non-cabbage only. It doesn't taste or and it's not even it doesn't even really look like a runza in that it's round. Anyway, we just launched that at in these test markets last week on Thursday. They have sold out so fast that I mean, we um we are those were kind of doing them a little bit differently. So all weekend, he went in and he made it's a Philly, it's a Philly cheesesteak, a buffalo chicken, and kind of a we call it cheesy dog. It's like a pig in a blanket. Anyway, he's he and his wife, he and his wife, they're some of the best runs of sandwich makers we have in the entire chain. So he just kind of got in his car. We were making some of them up in Omaha and he's they ran out. Yeah, they ran out. And so um, anyway, just I'll brag on him. That's one of the reasons why he's not here today. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's amazing. It's uh just again, uh all hands on deck. Let's get the mission accomplished.
SPEAKER_04:One of the things that we do in our corporate office with our corporate office staff, we have about 35 um during um Temperature Tuesday, one of our large biggest sales in in uh promotions in January. Um, we make our staff sign up and go work lunch hours at a store. So they every staff member in the corporate office, they have to once just once, right? Just once during the month that we make, we we tell them. Well, we don't make them. I mean, they all they all can do it, even if it's just going out to the dining room, wiping tables, because they're super busy.
SPEAKER_03:But we required them after COVID, there was a huge labor shortage across the United States and and about everything. And um we uh and and I think they were excited about it. We required all of them. They had to learn at least the they had to go learn how to run a uh the cash register or the the POS we call it. And they all could do several of them, even our director of IT. I mean, he knows how to run all the kitchen positions as well. He didn't come from Runza originally. Um, but uh our our team members at the office went out to our locations and were working lunch hour every day. They know how to do a uh a position. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:So Runza clearly respects tradition while at the same time you're very innovative and always uh doing trying to find innovative new products, things to how to how to get the product to the customer. What uh do you have an uh RD research and development uh division, or how do you guys come up with these ideas? We'll let everybody our managers.
SPEAKER_04:So we we um members my actual assistant is a sous chef, and um he's the one that gets tasked a lot of times with um, for example, um, you know, what could be new news? Well, maybe we it's time we bring in a couple of uh new salads. And so uh we've been working with some cob salad ingredients, a beef taco type salad, you know, things like that. So he'll he'll put things together and uh we'll discuss operationally how, you know, is this easy for stores? What ingredients do we need to bring in? Um, we'll do consumer group testing first. Um we did ramble.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, last week.
SPEAKER_01:We waited. We were we got to test some stuff.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. And so um, yeah, so we'll do that, or we'll we'll actually pull together um through our consumer database actual salad eaters, which we'll probably do here. And um, this is for next spring, so we have a little bit of time, but um, we'll actually pull together some recipes and actually have them do um taste testing and and give us some honest feedback. Um so yeah, that's kind of how we do new menu items.
SPEAKER_01:So community is an important part of Ronza and may even be one of your core values. Why is staying involved in the communities in which you have a presence important to the company?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, you know, our dad was very charitable and um generous, and he really believed in that. He really believed in in trying to support as much as he could uh in the community, whether it was sponsoring midget football or um um Cancer Society or like we do now, Alzheimer's. Um he really believed in being generous and giving back. And um, you know, for all of our communities that we're in, it's just kind of that you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours mentality. And um it's it's very important to us that our team members and our franchisees in those communities are involved.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we have managers and franchisees that are mayors of their their town, they're on the city council, they're uh they're willing to do, you know, do things to support their community in a lot of different ways. We have a lot of them that are coaches, uh teammates, uh mentors, teammate mentors, yeah. We do that a lot. So um, yeah, we we're really proud of the diverse um people we have in terms of the diversity and involvement in the community.
SPEAKER_01:What's Runza look like 10 years from now? What's going to be different? What's going to be the same?
SPEAKER_03:Well, um, we are starting another round of strategic planning. So if it don't have to be a little bit more than a lot of people.
SPEAKER_02:Everyone loves strategic planning. Oh, yeah, exactly. So Don, I'll let you go ahead and yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Uh well, I'll say from a corporate side, um, we already have Gen 4 starting. And so that's pretty exciting. Um, my oldest daughter is in the corporate office in the human resources department, and Renee's oldest daughter just started as um the strategic planning's her thing and development, strategy and development. And um, but they both went in. My daughter was a teacher for six years, um, decided she wanted to try something new after teaching through COVID and being pregnant during COVID. She's like, oh boy, I think I'm ready to try something else. But and she had a great gift for it. I'm kind of sad, but anyway, win-win for us. She works in our human resources department now. And same with Renee's daughter. She went and worked for Google and then Target and um boom moved back home. And so we're happy to have her. Um, Jen 5 has been born. There's five under six, age six.
SPEAKER_01:And you do have Ronzo onesies, right? Yeah, we do. Yeah, we actually do.
SPEAKER_04:We actually do. And um, so from a corporate, you know, standpoint, um, you know, we hope that some of our kids want to be involved and and continue that Runza tradition. I'll let Renee talk about, you know, expansion and continued slow growth. I mean, we still I will say I still want our team members to have opportunities within Runza and be successful. Um, you know, our growth has always been slow and and pretty controlled because we want every everybody and every location to be a success. But yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I mean, uh, yeah, I mean, runza is not a concept that you can just go out and just scale up immediately because this product is homemade from scratch. We make it really hard on ourselves. Um, and then also a runza sandwich is very unique. Um, so it takes a while in these communities. So 10 years from now, I would guess and hope that we're still opening runs of restaurants, but that's probably never going to be, I shouldn't say never, but I don't know that it's gonna be at more than three to five locations a year. But we are really, really good at running um restaurants. We're really good at production. Um, maybe there'll be some opportunities. You know, maybe we should start, you know, looking for opportunities to sell our runs of sandwich in different ways in different markets. Maybe it won't be, you know, um freestanding building. I do think that there's some scaling up there as long as we're smart about it, because we got to remember that quality. Um, perhaps, you know, we can look into selling them in grocery stores and things like that. That's a whole different thing. We've done that before. Yeah, that's a whole different ball game, though. You know, those have to be produced in a certain way. But I do think there's still a lot for Runza to give. And so we do look forward to the growth with it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Let me pepper you with some quick questions. Let's go with this one to start. What's your favorite item off the Runza menu?
SPEAKER_03:Onion rings for me. Oh boy, call I think a Swiss cheese mushroom Runza sandwich, but I can't eat those every day. They're so filling. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:If you had if you got to name one person, a celebrity, an athlete, uh, actress, whomever that could endorse, if you could have them endorse Runza and be a spokesperson, who would that be?
SPEAKER_03:I think Warren Buffett. Yeah, we gotta go for that or Dick Cabot. Now I know some of these people are these are people in their 90s, but I do think that um they embody what you know a lot of what Nebraska is about. So for me, um, maybe maybe those two would be pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, for me, I I would not, I don't know about endorsing Renza, but I would love Will Farrell to be in one of our commercials. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:As long as the answer wasn't Taylor Swift. I was expecting one of those on the. Oh my god, no. She's too busy. Uh give us your uh most memorable Runza customer story or team story.
SPEAKER_03:Um, so uh, you know, Nebraska football's very big. Um, obviously, uh it can get pretty cold at the at the games. And so I have had a couple people tell me this story over the years that they have certain Husker winter garb that they only wear to the games, and they actually have a Husker closet or a Husker room where they keep all those things. So it's a cold game. They buy a runza sandwich to help keep them warm because they're great hand warmers. They stick them in the pocket of their coat, they go home, they put that stuff away, they forget, and then the next year they go and those two runses are in there. I'm not sure how they didn't smell that cabbage. Um, but the I I love that, you know. Yeah. Don.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I would say um we have what we call runs addicts, people that are fanatic about runs.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, and we federally trademark that term runs addicts, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Runzadics, fairly trademarked. Anyway, um, so it we also have some runs addict team members out there, and we have one in particular that has a tattoo of what what is it?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, I guess it's I don't know if I knew this.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, yes, we've got I can't remember if it's the Runza Sandwich or what it is, but yeah, yeah. So, and then just you know, all the like I said, when when our dad passed, just listening to the stories from team members from all over and long ago, and what an impact you know runs has had on their lives.
SPEAKER_01:Don and Renee, something we ask all of our guests, and you get just one word. Uh what one word to you best describes and explains this great place in which you were born and raised, where Ronza got its start and is still headquartered here today. What's your one word for the state of Nebraska? Humble. Can you explain?
SPEAKER_03:I think, you know, people in Nebraska don't go around bragging about everything. They just they put it out there through their results. And then I just also think when they're humble, they're more accepting of each other, no matter what opinion somebody else may have that differs from yours. Um, I just think people are they find this commonality, they enjoy people, and I just think people like talking to people from Nebraska because they're humble.
unknown:So yeah.
SPEAKER_04:That's funny. That was what I was gonna say, but I would add to that it's genuine. Um, I think people in Nebraska are um no fluff, very genuine. Uh, this is me. Um, and I think they're genuine uh about being trustworthy and kind. And I don't think you know you have that in a lot of a lot of states.
SPEAKER_01:Don, Renee, thank you for joining us for this episode. Uh we didn't even need Donald, so you you knocked it out of the park, and it was a much better podcast without him. Just kidding, Donald. So thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you, man.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Folks, if you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing on Apple, Spotify, or whatever your favorite podcast app is. Perhaps even give us five stars while you're at it. And keep on listening as we release additional episodes on Nebraska. It's great communities. Nebraska's the number one industry agriculture, and the folks who make it happen.
SPEAKER_05:Thanks. This has been 93, the podcast, sponsored by Nebraska's law firm, Rembolt Ludkey.
