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Entrepreneurial spirit runs deep in Oxford couple
In rural Nebraska we place a high value on our entrepreneurs. Many feel the future of our small towns may be linked to the creative and independent spirits who convert their ideas into innovations and take risks in the name of an idea.
Thelma Bushnell, owner, manager and chef of Thelma Lou’s Restaurant and Bar in Oxford, NE, is a sterling example of a prosperous rural entrepreneur. To begin with, she’s not afraid of hard work.
“You have to be prepared to work 12 to 14 hour days for at least two years,” Bushnell said. “And you have to be present in your business to make it grow. Our customers like to see the owner involved in the business and working hard to make it succeed. Plus, employees won’t do it your way unless you are there to teach them.”
The call of the city
Thelma and her husband Marvin Bushnell grew up in Oxford, but left for San Francisco in the early 70s. Although employed by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, in their spare time they bought dilapidated properties, restored them, and then sold or rented them for a profit.
Bushnell said, “We bought our first house in San Francisco in 1972. We restored it and went from one house to another, always moving up in location and quality.”
As time went on, though, the pace of life in San Francisco turned faster and faster for the Bushnells, and when a friend wanted to sell his business – a former bowling alley turned into a restaurant and bar in Oxford, NE – the Bushnell’s bought it.
“We just thought it would be a good mom and pop business to buy,” said Thelma. In 1999 the Bushnells returned full time to Oxford to set up the restaurant/bar business and purchase and restore a home for themselves.
A great place to eat
Thelma Lou’s attracts customers from miles around Oxford especially on Tuesdays when Thelma serves pan-fried chicken and fresh mashed potatoes and gravy.
On an early Tuesday morning you will find her perched on a stool beside a stainless steel work table cutting up chickens and seasoning, flouring and frying wings, thighs, breasts and legs in enormous skillets while the potatoes boil in a pot on the stove. The phone rings and one more person is calling ahead to order a fried chicken dinner. Often the chicken is sold out by 11:30 a.m., and hungry patrons are forced to order meals off the menu.
On Wednesdays, Thelma makes pizza and Thursdays the restaurant offers Mexican food. Prime rib is a favorite of the Saturday night patrons.
Thelma says, “Our customers appreciate the maple wood flooring (left over from the bowling alley), the spacious dining area, and the meals we prepare by hand from old family recipes.” Other popular menu items include chicken fried steak and beef-and-noodle casserole.
Advantages and disadvantages
Like everything else, there are advantages and disadvantages to rural living and entrepreneurship.
“Grocery stores here don’t usually handle the kind of brand name spices and products like olive oil infused with garlic that I got used to buying in the city,” Bushnell says. Plus, “the streets roll up at 10 p.m., and if you don’t plan ahead, you won’t have that jug of milk, loaf of bread, or cough syrup that you need.”
But on the other hand, she says it’s much cheaper to live in small towns than in any city, the cost of building renovation is lower, and she likes the slower pace of life, low crime and total lack of smog.
“We’re more customer service oriented in small towns,” she says. “For one thing, we have to be, because we don’t have the same volume of business. But my employees were taught at a young age to respect people and help their neighbors.”
And if you’re in the restaurant business, you can never be too clean.
“Cleanliness draws customers,” Thelma says. “The cleaner I keep the restaurant, the more people come and try out our food.”
Marvin and Thelma Bushnell still own enterprises in California, and Marvin makes several trips a year to manage their investments. But they haven’t stopped innovating in Oxford.
“We recently purchased a former funeral home in Oxford, and we are converting it into a hunting lodge” Thelma says. She says hunters from Missouri, Arkansas and eastern Nebraska have often ask to rent a house or a lodge near or in Oxford. When complete, the Bushnell’s lodge – called Mort's Lodge – will provide five bedrooms, a bedroom suite, a kitchen, living room, dining room and sun porch.
“We believe the hunting business will grow and of course hunters need to eat – so we’ll be inviting them to eat at Thelma Lou’s.”
Who To Contact...
Thelma Lou's Restaurant and Bar
Thelma Bushnell
331 Ogden
Oxford, NE 68967
(308) 824-3434
Mort's Lodge
739 US Highway 136
(308) 824-3123
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