Chris(tina) Brandt, President, 31 Years of Service
Megan Blohowiak, Vice President & HR Manager, 22 Years of Service
Patrick Murray, Chairman of the Board, 53 Years of Service (Deceased as of 2012)
This year is our 65th Anniversary. Can you tell us more about the history of the company and how it started?
Christina: Our company was founded as the result of my grandfather’s passion to innovate products that enhance the dining experience and maintain the integrity of food and beverage flavor in his own restaurant. Dad continued this tradition during the years, leading us through the eyes of the end-user, always focused on innovation, solving problems and improving service. Simply, we… service… ideas - yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Megan: The company was founded in 1946 by my grandfather Arthur Murray, who along with his wife Marie, were restaurateurs and shared a passion for making the dining experience memorable. Art had many ideas and a vision on how to improve both service and presentation in his downtown Minneapolis restaurant. His first “service idea” was the Push-for-Service domed ashtray with a light that would signal a request for attention from the wait staff. His goal of maintaining food and beverage temperatures and taste with attention to design and function continues to be our focus today.
Patrick: The company started out of my dad's patents, and the first patent he had was for the Service Boy (Push for Service), and that was in 1946. In 1948 he patented the Thermo-Plate™, and then in 1956 he created the Thermo-Serv™. At that time our offices were above Murray's Restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. In the 1970's we added the glass-lined servers by partnering with Kenco, and we added vacuum stainless. Alfi® got added shortly after we saw their products at NRA one year, and we went to the Frankfurt fair a few times and added Bredemeijer, Zepe & Lux. We later increased the amount of airpots and vacuum stainless in our line and started building our rep groups and show presence. We moved our offices to Woodbury in 1996, and now we're expanding our building and adding to our lines.
What sort of innovations would you say really started making the Service Ideas name well-known in the industry?
C: I would say it is more the combination of having the restaurant expertise to know what products are needed to provide exceptional service and consistent attention to quality. It is a tremendous compliment when we hear over and over that our line has the unique, fun items and we are easy to do business with us.
M: I think the most recognizable, innovative product in the marketplace that established Service Ideas presence was the copper and black flip-top server; TS101CB. International House of Pancakes was the first to make putting coffee on the table a standard and this was the carafe they used. Today it can be found anywhere from antique shops to church halls to restaurants. It remains an iconic item in our product line.
P: The Thermo-Serv, and the Thermo-Plate as well.
We recently had some reasons to celebrate here at Service Ideas. Can you describe some of the milestones we've accomplished in the last year or so?
C: Where to start – we have been tremendously blessed with opportunities, the means to pursue them and most impressively the talent to capitalize on them. I celebrate most the growth and continued dedication of our team and the doubling of our building.
M: Service Ideas has always strived to be a leader in the foodservice industry by providing high-quality and value added products. We’ve worked for years to become the first choice and one-stop for beverage servers by offering the broadest selection of style, function, and materials. We’ve recently expanded our offerings by teaming with Stanley® Commercial to distribute their products in addition to bringing on a line of high-end glass-lined servers and accessories.
We’ve also introduced an item we spent years developing with innovative heat retention properties. Our Urns will eliminate the need for sterno or heating elements by holding temperatures for 4-6 hours. There isn’t another item like in it in the marketplace.
And, in order to support our product line expansion we’ve expanded our facility to include a significant amount of both warehouse and office space. We are positioning ourselves to grow, improve our product line and service ideas.
Oh, and Tina and I also made our first trip to Asia!
P: We've done very well with the recent rollout for IHOP, and continue to grow and expand our business in new markets. We also do a lot of business with Delta and American Airlines with our Aeroserv. The big boom in coffee has definitely had an impact on our business and helps us continue to grow.
What would you say is your favorite Service Ideas product to date and why?
C: This is really tough – right now I am most excited about our vacuum urn because of its potential to be a real game changer in the industry and the reintroduction of our first product “Service Boy” (Push for Service). I was thrilled to be one of the first few companies to bring glass plates and service ware to the NRA show. Our presses for coffee and tea offer such a wide variety of possibilities. And dating myself, when we introduced colors in our New Generation line, it was really fun to see the difference that made for plastic insulated servers.
M: Hmm…difficult to choose just one! There are some I favor because of their innovation, and that I was able to see them come in to being, like the Aero-Serv or the Urn. And there are some that are contenders because of how they function like the coffee press and the water infusers. And, then there are some for their design element, like so many of our coffee carafes and tea items.
P: I guess my favorite product is the one that made us, the Thermo-Serv™. Without that, we wouldn't have made it.
If you could bring back any item from our history that we no longer produce/carry, what would it be?
C: We are bringing it back – our very first product, “Push for Service”!
M: I’m thrilled that the first product Push for Service is coming back. It is really special and unique and I love the nostalgia of the era it represents. The other item that would be fun to see revived is the Flaming-Dagger Platter. It was a true example of how the 70’s was represented on the table.
P: Salt & Pepper Shakers and Sugar Dispensers. We used to have a huge selection and we used to sell tens of thousands of them. I think that's a very viable product and would like to see us get back into it.
Want to learn more? Be sure to stop back to meet others in the team that are committed to “service ideas.”