theHword.com

This is one of a series of stories on Hastings entrepreneurs that recently appeared in the Hastings Tribune. Thanks to the Tribune for allowing us to share these stories on TheHWord.com!

Enjoy!

Breaking out in the sandwich business

By Tony Hermann
(Story & Photo Courtesy Hastings Tribune)

Michael Bruns owns and operates Big Dally's Deli in downtown Hastings. While other sandwich shops have come and gone in Hastings, Big Dally's Deli is still thriving, even expanding to open a second shop on South Street. Photo by Brent McCown, Hastings Tribune

Michael Bruns wasn’t always the confident, fast-talking, customer service aficionado he is today, making sandwiches inside Big Dally’s Deli. “Actually I was a shy, could-barely-speak kind of guy when I was growing up,” he said. “It’s hard to believe but I could barely look a person in the eyes and talk to them.”

Bruns, 57, first opened the sandwich shop at the Imperial Mall food court in 1988 and moved to the current location, 801 W. Second St., three years later. He opened a second Dally’s location at 610 E. South St. in 2003.

While he said he’s the fastest talker in the family, Bruns admits he has competition.

“My son (Matthew) is a pretty fast talker and my mom’s side of the family was full of very fast talkers,” he said. “It might just be something that’s genetic. When I was young if I didn’t talk fast you didn’t get a word in edgewise.”

Matthew is manager of the South Street restaurant. He is the only child Bruns and his wife, Maribeth, have. Bruns also has two grandsons, Brandon and Jackson.

Sandwich chains have come and gone in Hastings since Bruns opened his first Dally location. He credits the business’s flexibility for remaining viable. “We’re more customer oriented,” he said. “We can be more attuned to the needs of the community and the individual customer.”

Over the years, Bruns and his sandwiches have developed a following among Hastings-area residents. Among the most ardent in that following might be retired Hastings High School Principal Mike Marymee.

“The food is fresh and well prepared and it’s just a good place to eat,” Marymee said. “There’s a lot of selection.”

Marymee moved to Hastings before the start of the 1992-1993 school year.
It wasn’t long before he began eating at Dally’s on a daily basis. He continues to eat there five or six times each week.

There are days, he said, in which he’ll eat lunch in the downtown Dally’s shop and then dinner at the shop on South Street with his family.

Bruns has an amazing memory, Marymee said. “Oh yeah, when I walk in the door he usually asks ‘the usual, the old usual or the old, old usual?’ ” he said, because he has three different favorite sandwiches.

He said if anyone has ordered the same sandwich more than just a couple of times Bruns typically remembers the person and the order.

Marymee has even gone to Bruns for help with his sandwich choice.
“There was a time I went in there, ordered an old sandwich and had to ask him which cheese to put on it,” he said. Bruns is quick to offer suggestions to customers trying to figure out what to put on a sandwich.

Competition with the national chains in town is “extremely intense.” Almost all the chains, Bruns said, are hammering home their name in a variety of venues.

“There’s a lot of competition,” he said. “There’s a lot of big advertising budgets for the chains. They have everything going for them in almost every aspect that they do.”

When he started the business, Bruns had just eight sandwich combinations. He came to the sandwich business after working in a deli where he learned about different specialty meats. “So, when it came time to make sandwiches I had an idea of lots of different things to use to make good sandwiches,” he said. He included deli favorites that are rarely seen in sandwich shops like roast pork.

There are 50 different sandwich combinations, but with the different meats, cheeses, vegetables and condiments Bruns said there is almost an unlimited number of different sandwiches. And with that Bruns must be quick with his mind and vocabulary to present those choices and varieties to his customers.

Bruns is well known for his rapid-fire interaction with customers. In every aspect at the restaurant Bruns and his employees strive for what he calls “operational excellence” — being as efficient as possible. “Most businesses try to work in one of three areas, operational excellence, customer intimacy, or else they are technologically advanced,” he said. “We try to be a little bit of each one but we’ve always tried to save a second or a penny of this or that.”

Dally’s employees know from experience the time each action takes. “We’ve found ways to cut a second here or a second there so the customer isn’t waiting,” Bruns said.

Marymee said he is amazed by the number of words Bruns must use each day.
“He can talk pretty fast,” Marymee said. “Especially when you consider how many times he has mentioned the different types of bread, veggies and dressings they have.”

Then there’s the sense of humor.

“He’ll say, ‘We recommend you try one of each and go from there,’” Marymee said.

All of the Dally’s employees are cut from a similar cloth — friendly and quick to smile at customers. “He is a great guy and it’s a great place to eat,” Marymee said. “There a lot of people for whom it’s a routine.”

About the author: theHword