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Southside Deli

Chamber Awards: Good food, fair prices, friendly service have made Southside Deli a community staple for 35 years

By Howard B. Owens
southside deli
Photo by Howard Owens

NOTE: This is the third of seven stories The Batavian will publish today and tomorrow (Friday and Saturday) about this year's Chamber of Commerce award winners. The awards will be presented on Saturday evening at Batavia Downs. Tickets are still available for the event.

The secret to success isn't complicated, the way Jeff Heubusch explains it: Offer people a good product at a fair price with a friendly smile, and they will keep coming back.

That's what he and his crew at Southside Deli have done for more than 35 years.

His assistant manager, Denny Schultz, who has worked at Southside for 24 years, explained it best.

"He's consistent," Schultz said. "He's here all the time. He lives at the store. If anyone comes in from the community, they know how hard he works. He's compassionate for his customers. He's instilled it in me, as well. You want every customer to feel welcome and special. You learn their names. You get a good rapport with returning customers."

It's that commitment and that success that led to Southside Deli being named Genesee County's Small Business of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce.

Heubusch said the award is a big honor that recognizes the reputation Southside has gained in the community.

"This side of town has always had a bad rap kind of reputation in the community, and I don't see that. I see compassion. I see humble people who just need to be accepted," Heubusch said. "It's definitely changed over the years, but for the better."

The store, as any regular knows, represents Batavia's diversity. Every segment of Batavia's community visits the store daily, either for a sub, snacks, drinks, or some essential grocery item.

That wasn't an aspect of the business Heubusch necessarily anticipated when he bought the location more than three decades ago but it's a big part of what he enjoys about the business.

"I think over the years, it has become a passion. It's something you have to grow into," Heubusch said. "When I came into this business, I didn't know much. Everything was trial and error. You listen to your customers and get their needs, get them in here, and give them a fair price. It's and they come back. People don't want just a deli; it's a place you can go to, and everybody's happy. It's just a great atmosphere. And we developed that over the years, and I got great help here. They're compassionate, they care."

As a young man, Heubusch spent 12 years working in a salt mine. He only quit when a mining accident nearly took his life.

His year-long recuperation gave him time to reflect and reassess what he wanted to do with his life.

Heubusch, the son of a miner, purchased Southside Deli two years before the accident. He kept his mining job even as he tried to build the deli business. Digging out the salt of the earth so motorists could drive on de-iced asphalt offered Heubusch a sense of security not available to entrepreneurs. He didn't want to give up that steady paycheck and good benefits while trying to build his own business.

While convalescing, Heubusch said to himself, "Am I going to lay on this couch the rest of my life and live on comp or Social Security disability?"

"Once I was able to get around and be productive, that's when I said, really, 'it's all or nothing.' "

Born in Wyoming County, Heubusch graduated from Warsaw High School in 1977. He was 17 and couldn't get a job, so he went to work in his mother's upholstery business.

When he turned 18, he got his first job in a salt mine.

He was laid off, rehired, laid off and rehired again a couple of times over the next few years. During that time, he also worked for U.S. Gypsum and Le Roy Machine.

He bought a house in Batavia, and when he started working in the mine again, his daily commute took him down Ellicott Street.

Every day, he would drive past Southside Deli (Heubusch kept the name from the previous owner; In the 19th Century, it was Ebling Meat Market and the location has always been some sort of market). 

On the second floor of the building is a balcony. As he drove by each day, Heubusch would see a for sale sign hanging from the balcony rail.

That got his mind working.

"I'd see it and think to myself, 'Man, I'd love to work for myself.' I kept seeing that, fueling my idea of what I would do if I owned that."

There's a reason working in a salt mine is a metaphor in our culture's lexicon for arduous work. It's hard labor.

In flush times, Heubusch worked 10 to 12-hour days, seven days a week.

"There were days I never saw daylight."

One day, finally, he called a realtor and got the ball rolling.

Escrow closed Aug. 10, 1989. Heubusch opened Southside Deli for the first time under his ownership four days later.

Besides figuring out the deli business and making a great meal, Heubusch learned how to hire the right help, people who naturally walk in with good attitudes and friendly smiles.

"I've got my hardcore of people, but people graduate from high school, they go to college, they move out of the area, they get married, but for the most part, I've got a very good core of employees that actually help the newbies," Heubusch said. "All my employees who have ever left said this was like their favorite job. They were young, and they would learn. They would become more social. They would learn the aspects of how business works and be able to talk to people, and it was a very, very great learning experience for them, and they moved on. I've got people who worked here who are now doctors and lawyers."

Schultz said he and the rest of the Southside crew are proud to see the deli get recognition from the Chamber.

"It's huge, especially for him, you know, but for us too, especially a lot of us long-standing people," Schultz said. "It's almost like validation of just how hard he's worked, and we've worked to be a successful business. We're Team Deli."

Keeping customers coming back has helped Southside Deli thrive for 25 years

By Howard B. Owens

Standing by a window, toasting a French bread pizza, Jeff Heubusch looked out on sunny Ellicott Street and mused, "sure beats working working in a salt mine."

He then states the obvious with a wry smile. "There's no windows in a mine shaft."

Heubusch should know. He spent 12 years working in a salt mine. He only quit when a mining accident nearly took his life.

His year-long recuperation gave him time to reflect and reassess what he wanted to do with his life.

The son of a miner, Heubusch purchased Southside Deli two years before the accident (today is the 25th anniversary of that purchase). He kept his mining job even as he tried to build the deli business. Digging out the salt of the Earth so motorists could drive on de-iced asphalt offered Heubusch a sense of security not available to entrepreneurs. He didn't want to give up that steady paycheck and good benefits while trying to build a business of his own.

While convalescing, Heubusch said to himself, "Am I going to lay on this couch the rest of my life and live on comp or Social Security disability?"

"Once I was able to get around and be productive, that's when I said, really, 'it's all or nothing.' "

That sense of commitment has stuck with Heubusch now for more than two decades. It's the reason Southside Deli not only survived. It thrived.

One hundred customers a day has become 500. Three employees have become 17. Children who once bought pop and candy at the store now bring their families in for subs and salads.

Born in Wyoming County, Heubusch graduated from Warsaw High School in 1977. He was 17 and couldn't get a job, so he went to work in his mother's upholstery business.

When he turned 18, he got his first job in a salt mine.

He was laid off, rehired, laid off and rehired again a couple of times over the next few years. During that time he also worked for U.S. Gypsum and Le Roy Machine.

He bought a house in Batavia, and when he started working in the mine again, his daily commute took him down Ellicott Street.

Every day, he would drive past Southside Deli (Heubusch kept the name from the previous owner; In the 19th Century, it was Ebling Meat Market and the location has always been some sort of market). 

On the second floor of the building is a balcony. As he drove by each day, Heubusch would see a for sale sign hanging from the balcony rail.

That got his mind working.

"I'd see it and I'd think to myself, 'man, I'd love to work for myself.' I kept seeing that and it kept fueling my idea of what I would do if I owned that."

There's a reason working in a salt mine is a metaphor in our culture's lexicon for arduous work. It's hard labor.

In flush times, Heubusch worked 10 to 12-hour days, seven days a week.

"There were days I never saw daylight."

One day, finally, he called a realtor and got the ball rolling.

Escrow closed Aug. 10, 1989. Heubusch opened Southside Deli for the first time under his ownership four days later.

The business needed a lot of work, he said. The century-old building needed an array of repairs. There was kitchen equipment to replace and Heubusch wanted to expand the deli.

"I knew the deli had potential. It was a great concept, but he (the previous owner) wasn't a hands-on guy. I knew if I worked it, I could bring it to life."

There was nothing easy about those early years, said Heubusch, who had no prior food service experience.

Besides keeping his job in the salt mine, Heubusch and his family (his daughter Cassandra was 4 years old at the time) lived in the apartment above the store.

"That's the only way I could do it."

Cassandra rode her skates through the aisles and learned to ring out deli customers by the time she was 6.

Then came the mining accident.

He was at the bottom of a mine shaft and it closed up on him. Heubusch suffered a pair of broke legs, a broken back and nerve damage.

"To me, it was a life-threatening experience. It all could have ended that day."

He required multiple surgeries, a year of at-home convalescence, seven years of physical therapy and 20 years of chiropractors.

To see him work in his store today, you would never guess his body had been through such trauma. 

"This place did help me, both mentally and physically."

So what's the secret to his success?

Heubusch said it's easy: hard work, good food and a singular focus on keeping customers happy.

A customer complaint feels like a failure, Heubusch said.

He takes a lot of pride in how well his deli team works together to take orders quickly, move fast and deliver the right sub or wrap made well and with alacrity. It's timing and attention to detail.

"I like being known as the place with the best subs. The best meats, the best salads. That's our niche. People can go anywhere else and buy pop, groceries or beer, but you can't buy a Southside Deli sub anywhere else. If you've been raised on Southside, nobody can match it."

The best measure of success, Heubusch said, is the customer who comes back.

"It's a good feeling. When you have a customer who's never been in before and they come back and they come back and they come back, it's a good feeling. Then I know I'm doing the right thing."

It sure beats working in a salt mine.

During lunch hour, customers are often lined up four and five deep at the deli counter.

On the wall above the racks of candy are 22 pictures of Little League teams sponsored by Southside Deli. Heubusch said young men come in now and point to pictures of their 8- and 9-year-old selves.

"It sure beats working in a salt mine."

A big part of Southside's lunch business comes from workers calling in their orders for pick up.

Sponsored Post: Here's your chance to win two Buffalo Bills tickets from Southside Deli

By Howard B. Owens

In recognition of Power Ball reaching a $500 million prize pool, the New York State Lottery has provided Southside Deli with two tickets to this Sunday's Buffalo Bill's game at Ralph Wilson Stadium as a prize for a raffle drawing.

To enter the raffle, you most drop off a losing scratcher at the deli. Write your name and phone number on the back of the ticket. The winner will be selected Friday night in a drawing from all of those losing tickets. (If you don't have a losing ticket, go to Southside, buy some scratchers and leave a loser behind with your name and number on it for the drawing.)

Southside Deli is located at the corner of Ellicott and Liberty streets, Batavia.

The winner of the drawing gets both tickets. There is only one prize.

Photo: Winner of Toys for Kids raffle picked at Southside Deli

By Howard B. Owens

Joy Hale is this year's winner of the annual Don Carroll's Toys for Kids lottery ticket basket raffle. The basket contained more than $200 in scratchers and gift certificates (not counting potential winnings, of course). Hale's ticket was drawn by Jeff Heubusch, owner of Southside Deli, who donated the lottery tickets. Above, Carroll, left, and Heubusch.

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