When Jo Unger opened Steinbach’s Dairy Queen on June 5, 1989, she instantly became a plumber, electrician and mechanic.
“I couldn’t afford to hire people to do that work for me,” she recalls. “I had to do that myself.”
Unger, who was enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Certified General Accounting program at the time, paused her studies to open the Dairy Queen. For three years she worked every day, open to close, and frequently dipped into her savings account to keep the business afloat.
It wasn’t easy – nothing worth working for is, she insists – but 35 years later she’s able to look back with pride on her hard work and many sacrifices, as well as the people who have helped make her business a community staple.
“It’s a very exciting time for me, but what I really believe we should be celebrating is our customers – we call them our fans,” she says. “Without them, this business wouldn’t be around.”
Since day one, Unger has been able to count on the patronage of the community. Father’s Day came around less than two weeks after she opened her doors, she remembers, and demand that Sunday was an eye-opener.
“The line-ups went through the vestibules and all the way to the front of the building. The drive thru was lined up to the number 12 highway,” she says. “I’m thankful that we’ve learned a lot since then, and we’re capable of handling even more than that.”
She is also grateful to her many employees over the years, and she still gets a kick out of watching them advance in their careers even several years after they move on.
“There have been many, many good people who have worked at this restaurant and are still working at the restaurant. I cannot say enough about the great bunch of people we have working for us,” she says. “I’m very proud of what a lot of them have gone on to become, and that their grassroots are in this restaurant.”
Thirty-five years of business has also seen physical developments to the building, which Unger owns – something of a rarity among contemporary franchisees. She oversaw a renovation in 2000, and in 2012 she added on to the side of the restaurant. The addition provided more space for the play centre, which in turn allowed more space for inventory. And the menu, as her customers can attest, has also changed numerous times through the decades.
Something that hasn’t changed, however, is Unger’s own enthusiasm about owning and operating the Dairy Queen. She still enjoys serving customers in her trademark goofy outfits, and she always finds fulfillment in each new generation of employees.
“I like to teach them to accomplish their dreams,” she says.
Then there are the special moments she and her restaurant get to be a part of.
“We meet a lot of people that have a smile and a story about how they’ve celebrated events at the restaurant or with our food and our cakes,” she says. “There have been a lot of celebrations in the restaurant.”
And there will be a lot more of them in the future, as Unger is happy to keep working and says she’ll be there for them all.