Win Schuler's-Bob Nunez

Win Schuler's-Bob Nunez

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Talk of the Town,Steve, Kelly, Brett Pikita from West
Michigan's morning news on news radio withthirteen hundred and one oh six nine FM.
If you were listening earlier in theweek on wood Radio, we had
a great conversation with the president ofwinn Schuler's, Bob Nounez, still in
studio with us here on Talk ofthe Town. Bob, thank you so
much for doing this and thanks againfor having me this morning. It's been

(00:21):
great being with you guys. Wedid a little walk down memory lane when
it came to your product, whichhas been a part of us here,
especially in West Michigan, because that'skind of where it comes from, right,
did you say nineteen fifty nineteen fifties, if you want to go way
back, the original Schuler restaurant,Albert schuller Win's dad had a Delhi in

(00:43):
the lobby of a hotel in Marshall, Michigan. Yes, And next to
that hotel was a bowling alley,and when Wynn kind of took over the
business, he bought the bowling alleyand converted into what has been since that
time the original wind Shul's restaurant.And did the recipe come. One of
the stories, I mean, youread so much about iconic products, right,

(01:07):
was that it was a way justeverybody got it at their table,
right. He did in the fiftiesagain, recall No. I ninety four,
So M twelve was the route fromDetroit to Chicago on Marshall's halfway,
right, and back in those days, you know it's it's It took a
little longer to go from Detroit toChicago. So this halfway stopping point was

(01:30):
great. And and Schuler's was awhite tablecloth restaurant. It became very popular.
So they're long lines, and whenwas the consummate restaurant tour always concerned
about his patrons and the long lineshe was concerned about so he wanted to
provide them something while they were waitingin line, and he concocted when Schuler's

(01:52):
Cheese Spread, Well, he cancococted a cheese spread, which became when
Schulers right, uh, And thatevolved into when you sat down at the
restaurant, you got you got alittle owl of cheese, you got a
fresh loaf of bread, and yougot a bowl of meat balls and barbecue
sauce and I went to college atAlbion College, so we had a had
a big date or mom and dadcame into town. You you went to

(02:14):
schoolers and you had all those premeal things and it's kind of wrap up
the entree and take it home andhave dessert and you're good to go.
But it became so popular that theclamoring was, you know, we want
to be able to buy it ingrocery stores, and of course that evolved
to people. A lot of peopleremember the ceramic crocks. Yeah, it

(02:35):
had a good spring to it.It came with the refills and a plastic
tube called a chub, and thenthat evolved into the initially wax paperboard cups
and the plastic cups. But theoriginal formula is still the original formula that
that was invented back in the fifties. And I mentioned this morning legend has

(02:58):
it that win and and Duffy Dohertywe're in the kitchen one night and they
kind of created this thing. Andof course that restaurant a lot of the
Big Ten teams that traveled by busright to and fro. Unfortunately, now
you can get UCLA and Southern Calancoming out of the Big Ten. You
can't travel by bus anywhere, right, But they would stop at schoolers for

(03:21):
team meals. They had a prettylarge banquet area and so it was it
was kind of the hub. Itwas the kind of in the middle of
the big ten area and it wasvery, very popular. That was a
big deal. I remember going towind Shoolers as a kid. Oh yeah,
big deal. And I love howyou've captured the history and the heritage
and the nostalgia that you just talkedabout, because the taste of good times

(03:44):
is the motto when it comes towind Shoelers, and you've now spread it
over multiple flavors. Yeah, it'sbecome an icon as far as tailgating,
which we're going to talk about.And now, yes, you have your
traditional wheat things which we have hereare crackers or pretzels that people are used,
have it on our bread. You'retaking it to sandwiches, you're taking
it to brought worst to hamburgers.That's awesome. Yeah, it's it is

(04:06):
Folks like flavor, whether it's salsaor hummus and hummus with things in it.
Folks like flavor, and wind Shoolersoriginal has always had that zesty flavor
that Michiganders and Midwesterners love and sowhen you want to kick something up a
notch, taking wind Shoulers products,whether it's original or sharp shutter or pepper

(04:30):
jack or bacon, and adding itto your sandwiches, you don't need the
male, you don't need the othercondiments because shoolers are so smooth and creamy
that you get that great mouth feelthat the condiments provide, and it takes
those sandwiches and makes them, makesthem special or burgers great on burgers,

(04:50):
or throw it into mac and cheese, throw it into mashed potatoes. If
you've got children that don't like theirvegetables, put some on their vegetables and
and now that becomes a treat asopposed to a burden. So it's very
versatile. Obviously, tradition of Christmasand Thanksgiving when all the families coming home

(05:12):
and and those memories and that partof that holidays equation for Windshuelers is still
there. But tailgating and any timeof the day is also a great opportunity
for people to enjoy the product aswell as may make their eating experiences that

(05:35):
much better. Bob Noonan is thepresident of wind Shoulers a sponsor high school
football with Brett Pakita, our footballsegment with Ti Halleck on Mondays and Friday's
as well, our guests here onTalk of the Town. And finally,
when we talk about iconic companies andproducts, I have to pause again.
I mentioned this on Friday on theshow, that you've been there over thirty

(05:58):
years? Is this year only likefull time job? It is my full
time job. Well, how doyou end up win Shuelers at such a
young age? Well, okay,let this is radio, so you can't
see my hair, but it's notsuch a young age. But we purchased
the family sold the the cheese spreadand snack ship business to Campbell Soup back

(06:23):
in nineteen eighty two. And uh, and then we purchased it from uh
from Campbell Soup in in ninety two, in ninety three, excuse me,
and we've owned we've owned it since, and we've tried to maintain the quality
and the flavor UH that win originallyoriginated. And I think I think consumers

(06:45):
will will testify that that we've doneso over the years. And and UH,
it's a it's a Michigan Midwest traditionthat hopefully we'll live on for a
long time. There you go,Maide in Michigan by Craikey the bosses from
Michigan. I'm on board, andit didn't hurt that you brought in lots
of product. We would have boughtit anyway. So Bob Noon, as

(07:08):
president of wind Shuler's, it's beena pleasure. Thanks for your time again
today, and thank you too.I really appreciate you guys having and happy
thirtieth anniversary for you as the owner. Right yes, yep, yep.
So onward and upward, here wego. This is Talk of the Town
on news Radio with thirteen hundred andone oh six nine FM.