To Craig Culver, the success of any business enterprise is the people who work in it. At a ground-breaking ceremony on June 12 at the site of a new Huntley restaurant that will bear his name, he demonstrated his point dramatically.
When asked to say a few words, this wildly successful entrepreneur turned to a group of about 25 Culver’s employees, many of them teenagers, and thanked them for their efforts.
Culver’s founder Craig Culver addresses Sun City residents at a recent presentation. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)
“I have worked with you guys for 15 years,” referring to the fact that the original Huntley store opened at Drendel’s Corner a quarter-mile south on Route 47 in 2000. “It’s nice to have a new building, but it’s not about buildings at Culver’s, it’s about the people inside them, people like you. Working for a common goal, enjoying the work and each other. It starts with all of you, and I want you to know I appreciate you and thank you for all you do.”
He got one of the biggest ovations of the day from the workers as photographers took pictures of company, village, and community VIPs and leaders a few feet away.
It was a cloudy, chilly, dreary, and drizzly day, but Culver’s and Huntley leaders celebrated. Craig Culver returned from ground-breaking several stores in Florida, to lend his CEO public relations skills to the occasion of announcing the transformation of Culver’s presence in the fast-growing Huntley community.
By Oct. 1, Culver’s plans to vacate its quarters at Drendel’s Corner on Oak Creek Parkway and build one of its traditional free-standing stores on the southeast corner of Powers Road and Route 47. The ceremony was conducted by Sunday Graham, executive director of the Huntley Chamber of Commerce, and representatives of several businesses in the village attended.
The ground-breaking turned a lonely, silent meadow opposite Sun City into a flurry of activity that highlighted Culver’s commercial success as well as its significant community-minded philosophy.
After the 9 a.m. ground-breaking, which was threatened but never actually dampened by rain, Craig Culver came to the Fountain View Center in Sun City’s Prairie Lodge to talk about his personal history. About 100 Sun Citians attended the presentation, which was sponsored by the Sun City Community Association.
Culver began his presentation by announcing that he is stepping down as CEO of Culver’s, where he will be succeeded by Phil Keiser, who has been serving as chief operating officer.
“I will remain as chairman of the board and owner, and occasionally I will share my opinions with everyone,” he joked.
With humor and a bunch of family-related anecdotes, he told about his life from an 11-year-old boy put to work by his parents in an A&W stand, to the CEO of one of the nation’s fastest growing restaurant chains. There are now about 545 Culver’s locations in 25 states. The company is on a pace to build and open 40 new stores annually. The Huntley store was among the first ones to open in Illinois.
Delighting his audience with frequent jokes about his detour-filled rise to his present position, he said, “My dad was a risk-taker with an entrepreneurial spirit, and I enjoyed working in the business, but I never originally thought of it as my future. I took a very indirect, circuitous route to get where I am now. I went to college and got a degree in biology. Don’t ask me why. My dad then sold the business and then took over a resort in Devil’s Lake State Park a short distance away.
I worked there seasonally while in college, and when I finished, my dad asked me if I would come into the business with him. I told him that I enjoyed being at the resort and working there, but I said no, I didn’t see the resort and restaurant in my future. My dad didn’t get upset, he just wished me well in searching for my dream. Looking back on that now, I believe I was stupid. I realized later that I was becoming like my dad, with the same risk-taking spirit.”
Craig told of being interviewed four times before he was accepted as a trainee at McDonald’s.
“I learned a lot there in the 1970s,” he said. He later returned to his dad and this time he asked to become involved. On July 18, 1984, along with his parents and sister, Lea, he opened the first Culver’s Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers. “The two products were suggested to me by friends and mentors, and they seemed natural ones for people who were grounded in the dairy industry,” he said.
In 1987, the Culvers were approached about a franchising a restaurant, starting a trend which has flourished ever since.
“I always used to correct people who referred to our custard as ice cream, “ he said. “But now I don’t care what you call it, as long as you enjoy it,” he said.
He now oversees what is widely recognized as one of the nation’s finest restaurant franchise licensing systems. It has been organized into Culver Franchising System, Inc, and involves the training and development of hundreds of Culver’s employees and interested persons into local owners and managers of stores. The Huntley store is co-owned by area residents Bill Lock and Jim Agate, with Terri Agate as general manager.
The Culver’s slogan is “Welcome to Delicious.” Culver said the enterprise has grown primarily by word of mouth, with a minimum of media advertising and promotion.
“We also decided we would not get into competitive pricing practices with other chains,” he said. “We have never cheapened the quality of our products.”
One final note. When asked if Culver’s would ever consider serving breakfast, he said no.
“We once considered opening at 7 a.m. and that required starting at 5 a.m., but we found it wore us out, with difficulties getting employees willing and able to come to work consistently very early in the morning. We are not going to do that.”
What they are doing is becoming hugely successful at lunch and dinner.
