One Family, Two Businesses - Deutsch Couple Balances Family and Two Businesses, Cornerstone Interiors and Town & Country Supermarket

When some people say their priorities in life are God, family and career – in that order – it can sound a bit cliché. However, Debbie and Randy Deutsch are not some people.

Debbie and Randy each own and operate a successful business that demands a lot of hours each week. But when their daughter, Natalie, was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2002, their careers were put on hold.

“God, family, career. I really, really, really learned that when Natalie was sick,” Debbie said. “I walked away for two years.”

One of those two years was spent in St. Louis, where the whole family banded together to support Natalie, who received a bone marrow transplant. Natalie’s brother, Jacob, kept up with his eighth-grade schoolwork with the help of his teachers and the Internet.

“It was a tough journey with Nat from day to day,” Randy recalled. “But we learned a lot. Business doesn’t mean anything when your child’s life is on the line.

“Our lives were turned upside down but now Natalie is doing very well,” Randy added, noting a recent check-up in Kansas City.

While the Deutsches were away they relied on family, friends and employees to take care of business. They put their trust in the right place.

Talented Team: Pictured are several members of the Cornerstone staff. In the back row are Candace Tomlin, Gwen Beuoy, and Valerie Wagner. Pictured in the front row are owner Debbie Deutsch and Dawn Menges. Not pictured are Carol Pedigo-Wilson, Faye Schartz, and Sheree Marshall.

Debbie’s Cornerstone Interiors is thriving at 1405 Main in Great Bend and Randy’s Town & Country Supermarket Inc. serves as Hoisington’s only grocery store at 818 N. Elm.

“The number-one function of Cornerstone Interiors is the design work,” said Debbie, who is the senior designer. “We do residential space planning and interior design work.”

The drapery workroom is where Distinctive Drapery employees manufacture and fabricate draperies on site. This business, which Debbie bought 12 years ago, is under the umbrella of Cornerstone.

“We also do faux painting on wall surfaces. Faux means ‘fool the eye,’” Debbie noted. “We do some commercial projects but the bulk is residential.

“We go in and do a complete remodel – nobody can live there. I make the space more usable for that particular client. It is basically residential architecture. We’ve been fortunate. I started out in the commercial interior design of nursing homes and hospitals. Then doctors started asking about residential.”

Creative Corner: Cornerstone Interiors’ owner Debbie Deutsch demonstrates how she gets her creativity flowing. “When someone asks us to faux finish a room in their home, there is a lot we have to consider,” Deutsch says. “A lot of what we do is experimentation – we experiment with colors, textures, and mediums until we get the exact look we’re going for.”

Not every job, however, entails working from the wall studs on in; Debbie also consults on smaller projects. “I like to diversify my career,” she explained. “I may consult with someone on paint colors, then talk with plumbers and electricians - all in one day.”

Several years ago, retail was added to Debbie’s diversified businesses. Merchandise includes handbags, jewelry, specialty food items, specialty decorations, serving trays, cookware, home accessories, specialty wine glasses, aprons, shirts, area rugs, furniture and lighting.

Debbie noted that her art background allows her to add “unusual and whimsical” touches to specialty products.

“I started the retail because I love my community,” Debbie said. “It is something I did because we are a long way from any type of design market.”

Retail Reality: Cornerstone Interiors specializes in space planning, faux finishing, interior design, and custom draperies. However, they are also well-known for their vast selection of high quality home décor available for retail sale at their downtown location. “We have three main areas of focus here: first is interior design, second is custom draperies, and third is retail,” owner Debbie Deutsch says. “Retail is the least of all three because it is not our main focus. However, we would still like people to know about all that we offer.” Cornerstone Interiors offers a wide variety of home décor, fine art, cookware and grillware, clothing, purses and accessories, bath and body products, WoodWick candles, rugs, and even furniture.

In addition, Debbie rents space in her downtown location to the Corner Bistro as yet another way to create store traffic and more diversification. Henry and Michelle Conner are the owners and operators.

Cornerstone opened in 1982 in the Westgate Shopping Center as Paper Chase Interiors. Its next locations were a studio in Hoisington and the Deutsches’ home at 254 W. 1st in Hoisington, which is a refurbished funeral home.

Next, Debbie bought the building at 1119 Main in Great Bend and moved to the current location about 10 years ago. The business has eight employees and Debbie said retail is slower this year but she is having a “banner year” with the design work.

Cornerstone’s hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Randy’s Town & Country Supermarket has stayed in one place – despite the fury of Mother Nature. The devastating April 21, 2001, Hoisington tornado wiped out the grocery store and Randy’s mother’s home. The store re-opened 13 months later.

In His Shoes: Randy Deutsch, manager of Town & Country Supermarket in Hoisington, works through a pile of bills in his office. “Managing a grocery story is pretty straight forward,” Deutsch says. “This store has been in my family for three generations, so I guess you could say that it comes naturally to me.”

“We are at the same location but the store faces a different direction,” Randy said. “After the tornado, we were fully insured. We could have easily taken the money and ran. But we were the only grocery store in town. Mom and I talked and decided to rebuild right away. We said, ‘we need to come back.’”

Town & Country opened in 1957 as the result of a partnership between Randy’s late father, Raymond, and Ike Walter. They also bought five Dairy Queens across the state.
“But they reached a point that the DQ was so busy and they split their partnership,” Randy said. “Dad took the store and Ike took the Dairy Queens.”

Randy graduated from Kansas State University and moved to Wichita where he worked for Wrangler Clothing. His dad developed health problems and Randy moved back home because it was important to him to support his family.

Raymond died 17 years ago and Randy’s mother, Dolores, is the store’s co-owner. Town & Country is a full-service grocery store, with a deli and a bakery, where items are made from scratch.

From Start to Finish: Two Town & Country employees assist a grocery customer at the checkout line. “We provide our customers with the kind of customer service they remember from decades ago,” Manager Randy Deutsch says. “We still ask if you prefer paper or plastic and we still help you out to your car after you’re done shopping. I think that’s what keeps people coming back.”

“And our meat department is second to none,” Randy said. “I would put it up against anyone, anywhere. We have a great meat cutter and you will not find a cleaner meat department.
“A grocery store is small net profit,” Randy added. “You have to turn a lot of dollars. Last year was a really good year. Gas prices kept people in town, oil was $100 a barrel and grain prices were high. This year, we’ve been affected a tiny bit. Volume is not what it used to be but we are doing well.”

The store employs 37 people and its hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday; it is closed Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.

When the Deutsches chat about the demanding responsibilities of running two successful businesses, it takes only a moment to hear that family comes first.

“The hours are obviously an issue,” Randy commented. “But when our kids were little, you could count on one hand how many times we left them with a babysitter. We took the kids to everything, even chamber banquets. Time with them is important to us; we never missed any of their activities.”

Debbie recalled driving “like a mad woman to get to a baseball game. They were in Little League and dance. We told ourselves we were not going to miss any of their functions.”

Natalie graduated from K-State in December and is a manager trainee with The Buckle. Jacob attends Fort Hays State University.