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‘Konop Companies became our identity as a family’

Full-scale food and beverage service sold to Canteen, BE'S Refreshments

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July 29, 2024

GREEN BAY – What started as a penny peanut machine route in the mid-1940s turned into a full-scale food and beverage service company – creating a 75-plus year legacy for the Konop family.

“My dad (Louie) came out of World War II, and he got a job at a bakery,” Tom Konop, former co-owner of Konop Companies, said. “(While) he was working at the bakery, he found… an article in the paper saying there was a 120 penny peanut machine route for sale – “the peanut globes where you put a penny in and get your handful of peanuts.”

Tom said his dad decided to purchase the route, which ran from Green Bay down to Sheboygan and as far up as Menomonie, Michigan – while still working at the bakery.

“That’s how it all began,” he said. 

Seventy-seven years later – after growing up with the company and watching it evolve – Tom said the time came for him, his sister Mary Borley and his brother Dave to sell.

“It was a difficult decision to go in the direction of selling the business,” he said.

The Konop siblings sold the business to Canteen – a provider of workplace food service – and BE’S Refreshments (a franchise of Canteen), which provides vending and office coffee service.

Tom said BE’S Refreshments now rents the former Konop Companies building at 1725 Industrial Drive in Green Bay. 

Decades of evolving

As the Konop family continued the business throughout the decades, Tom said its services began to change and grow.

“Throughout the years, it went from peanuts (to) candy machines, which (my dad) added back then,” he said. “He had cigarette machines for a while, (too). It evolved into coffee, snacks and beverages.”

In 1968, more than 20 years after Louie purchased the original penny peanut route in 1946, Tom said his dad was approached by another vending company that was experiencing financial hardships and was asked to take it over, which he did.

Dispenser filled with peanuts. A sign is affixed to the machine that states The Beginning 1946 Konop Companies.
One of the penny peanut machines Tom’s father, Louie, purchased in 1946. Photo Courtesy of Konop Companies

In the late 1980s, Tom said he joined the business full-time after attending college at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

“My sister, my brother and I grew up in the business…,” he said. “My sister worked in the office, and my brother ran a route and worked in the warehouse.”

Him, his sister and brother, he said, took over the ownership reins from his father in the early 1990s.

From there, he said things continued to evolve.

“We expanded into fresh food – we had our own commissary,” he said. “We grew (the business to include) vending machines, then moved into catering and into on-site dining facilities in businesses – where we would run the cafeterias. We got into office coffee and bottled water – and kept growing the business.”

About 15 years ago, Tom said Konop Companies also stepped into the world of micro markets – or a self-service retail space where people can purchase their food and beverage.

“That’s where the industry is growing – the self-serve micro markets,” he said. 

For Konop Companies, Tom said freshness was the philosophy.

“We made all of our own sandwiches and desserts – which was unique in our industry,” he said. 

Continuously evolving to meet the needs of the community and surrounding areas, Tom said, was a crucial factor in the company’s long-term success.

“If you stand still, you’re going to get run over,” he said. “We were always on the leading edge of technology. We were one of the first in the state – and one of the few in the country – to start with remote monitoring on all of our equipment.”

Remote monitoring, he said, allowed Konop employees to have access to real-time data on what products were selling.

“Before that technology was there, you were guessing on what needed to be filled, and you were relying on past data,” he said.

To make sure the business could provide apt service when needed, Tom said, “we didn’t expand too far out from our home base” of Green Bay.

“We expanded our reach about 65 miles from here, but we still always maintained close proximity, so if service was needed, we were there within a reasonable amount of time,” he said.

‘It becomes your identity’

Tom said when you have a family business, “it becomes (part of) your blood.”

“We were in it all our lives, and Konop Companies became our identity as a family,” he said.

That’s why, Tom said, deciding to sell the business was anything but easy.

“My brother and sister – they’re older than me – and we reached the age (where) we all had some individual events happen in each of our lives,” he said. “It became that time. None of our kids wanted to come into the business – that was probably the biggest reason why we looked at selling.”

The first step to preparing to sell Konop Companies, Tom said, began with an evaluation of the business.

A man and woman smiling at the camera.
Louie Konop (right) purchased a 120 penny peanut machine route in 1946. The business would eventually grow to do more vending options, catering and micro markets. Photo Courtesy of Tom Konop

“When you operate a family business for all those years, there are some things you (may) neglect, and one (for us) was knowing what the business was worth,” he said.

The entire process, he said, took about a year, with the final decision to sell happening about three months before the sale was closed. 

“That was a tough day,” he said. 

Employees at the forefront

Tom said much of Konop Companies’ success was due to the employees.

“We’re a face-to-face business,” he said. “Our employees are frontline people – the ones who were in front of our customers every day. They were important in everything we did… We needed to have the right people doing that, and we did. That’s what made us successful for so many years.”

Which is why, when starting the process of selling the business, Tom said he and his siblings wanted to make sure their employees would be well-taken care of in the transition.

“Our No. 1 concern was our employees, by far,” he said. “We had other opportunities with other organizations that were interested, but it ultimately came down to (what) was the best decision for our employees and their futures.”

When talking with Canteen and BE’S, Tom said they made sure the companies would hire all employees at the wage they were currently earning – “at least” – and with the same benefits.

“That was one of the big reasons why we sold the business to them,” he said. 

What happens next

When you run a business, Tom said it’s “24/7, 365 days a year.”

“There’s not a lot of time – even when on vacation – you’re not thinking about the business or calling in and worrying about the business,” he said. 

Since selling Konop Companies, Tom said his brother and sister are enjoying retirement.

As for Tom, he said he and his wife now have more time to visit their kids and grandchildren who don’t reside in the Green Bay area.

He said he would also like to do more with charitable organizations around the city, which was important to his father.

“We were always fortunate that the community was good to us,” he said. “We liked to give back to the community, which we have done… it’s important to continue to give back.”

TBN
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