Popular Creston restaurant and bar the Elms Club is under new ownership.
Pete Custer purchased the Elms Club, located at 108 N. Elm St., near the end of last year before closing on the deal a few months later. Custer, a Creston native, has spent most of his life in Creston.
“But I was gone for most of the ‘80s – I was in college, and then I traveled all around the midwest running big-box retail stores,” said Custer. “And then I came back for good in ‘03, and I’ve been here ever since, working for RE Lewis [Refrigeration] as a project coordinator.
“And the big question ... why did I buy a bar?” Custer continued, “since I was a little kid I just always thought it was a cool business to have. And I figured it’d be a good retirement ... it was just always something I wanted to do.”
According to Custer, serendipity played a part in the purchase. The Elms Club had been on the market for a while before Custer even thought about buying it himself.
“I was in here, eating lunch one day, with a couple colleagues from work,” said Custer, “and Donna (a previous owner) came back and was chatting with me and I said ‘So what are you asking for the bar?’ And I think she just thought I was being snoopy, you know, and she basically blew me off. But I said ‘No, really – what are you asking for the bar?’ And she said, ‘What are you offering?’
“So I went back to work that day,” explained Custer, “did an internet search, and found out about the listing and I called my bank and I put an offer on it that Friday afternoon. And they accepted it the following Sunday afternoon. So it was a pretty quick deal.”
After the deal was made, Custer held off on closing for a few months because he had two grandchildren born.
Chris Bird, Custer’s step-son, has been appointed the new manager for the Elms Club. He’s been working with the existing staff for about a month now.
“So we wanted plenty of time to transition,” said Custer. “We had him (Bird) start up here in the middle of December and basically work with Donna for a month before we took over. Donna and Mike (the previous owners) had built this into such a great business. They had such a tremendous food business – such a great reputation for their food.”
According to Custer, the entire staff of the Elms Club has been retained, save the previous owners. Currently, the Elms Club employs 11 full- and part-time employees.
“We’ve hired some new people, and we’ll probably end up with about 14 because we’re still looking for some additional people,” said Custer.
What’s going to change?
Custer hopes to build upon the Elms Club’s reputation for good food and create more nighttime bar-trade business.
The Elms Club’s hours have been extended as a result. Beginning this weekend, the grill will be open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the bar will be open 11 to 2 a.m. seven days a week.
“And we’re toying with some other possible ideas,” said Custer. “We’re thinking of adding curbside pickup. I’m talking with the city right now about getting the first spot [right outside the Elms Club’s front door] turned into a curbside pickup zone, where we can run out with a credit card square and do orders for people [in their cars].
“We’re also talking about leaving the fryers on until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights,” said Custer, “so we can offer all the fried food later for the bar trade that people want to eat.”
According to Custer, the Elms Club is all about history.
"It's just such a great history," said Custer. "I don't know for certain, but I believe the name was changed in the '20s when it was a speakeasy. I mean I had uncles that bartended here in the '20s. I'm only the fourth owner in the last 85 years. So it's been here a long time.
“The service is just awesome,” Custer summarized. “You’ll never find better food service. We’re quick, it’s consistent and it’s reasonably priced. Nobody’s got a better burger, nobody’s got a better tenderloin – nothing even close to touching ours.”