An Amazing Moment in Our Lives
Posted by estiator at 11 November, at 15 : 55 PM Print
By Michael Kaminer
The Family Behind Wisconsin’s Gyros West Starts a New Chapter
Calling Gyros West a “restaurant” doesn’t capture what this Waukesha, Wisconsin, spot has meant to its community.
So when owner Leo Haideman revealed in June that Gyros West will close on December 23 after 33 years, the local reaction felt like an outpouring of grief.
Milwaukee news media ran head-lines about the closing. Social media blew up with stunned reactions. Longtime customers, some of whom dined at Gyros West daily, gasped in disbelief.
But as difficult as it is to face the end of an institution, Haideman tells Estiator that the closing means some-thing else to him and his family.
“This feels like an amazing moment in our lives,” he says. “For decades, you work not knowing the outcome from all the years of sacrifice and efforts. But you persevere through the challenges. And you see the light on the other side.”
As Haideman explains it, “we were approached nine months ago by a large S & P company about acquiring the restaurant and the property around it,” including a health club and shop-ping center, all on 3.5 acres owned by Haideman and his family. Gyros West is expected to close by year’s end; the buyers will turn the property into an auto dealership, he said.
Haideman’s parents, Peter and Kris, are proud of their son’s success—and his decision to move on. Both parents immigrated from Greece in the 1950s—Peter from Amigdalia in Lidoriki, Kris from Makrysi, a community in Megalopoli. “They sacrificed, just like every Greek family. Both of them immigrated from Greece in the1960s. They’ve been with me from day one until we were approached to sell. I asked their permission. Gyros West has been a place for them to come and meet their friends every day. They’re now in their 90s. I didn’t want to sell without asking them.”
The decision, Haideman says, “is bittersweet. But it’s time for us to smell the roses. We’re workers through and through, though, and we want to continue the name and the brand.”That brand had its origins in March 1990, when a 28-year-old Haideman opened Gyros West after toiling in family businesses. “I had been working for my uncles and cousins in town in my teens, and even after I went to college, I realized I was a restaurant guy through and through,” he says. “I also figured that if I could work 60 or 80hours a week for family, I could work100 hours a week for myself.”
A month later, Haideman came across another golden opportunity.“In April 1990, my now wife, Julie, walked into the restaurant,” here members. “She was a customer. I saw her and took special care of her. She became my wife. She has been such an integral part of this establishment. I’m the train, and she’s the track.” The couple has four children.
Initially, Gyros West served burgers and frozen custard. “It was a takeout place where you order at the counter, not a full-service restaurant,” he says.”Then we got surrounded by competition, all of them doing what we were doing, though we were the first ones doing it. That was a defining moment, seeing your part of the pie get smaller.”
“My family and I have given our customers a sense of family.”
But true to his entrepreneurial spirit, Haideman changed the game by opening at 5 am to serve breakfast. “All of the older people wanted to sit down and have full service,” he says. “About ten years ago, I saw the real value of having those regular customers. The city shut down traffic in both directions to reconstruct the roads. There was no traffic in front of the restaurant. How did we survive? From regular customers. That’s when you realize how important it is to have those relation-ships with your neighbors and your community. They supported us through nine months of no traffic. It was a community effort to support a local business. We were able to stay open because of them.”
Likewise, the Gyros West team has stuck with Haideman and his family for decades. “We have staff who’ve been with us for 27, 28 years,”he says. “My main kitchen guy, Baldo, has been with us from the time we introduced breakfast. One of my servers, Geri, a mother of four, has been with us for 28 years, and she loves our restaurant family.”
From that experience comes the most important advice Haideman says he can offer other restaurateurs. “I feel as though my family and I have done the best we can to become apart of this community and give our customers a sense of family,” he says. “You know them by name, and if you don’t know, you ask them. I know 70 percent of my customers by name. We’ve created those relationships. I’m here many hours every day, and I love what I do. You show your family that if you work hard and persevere, you can be a success.”
“They’re sad we’re leaving but happy for us that we can enjoy the fruits of our success.”
Other family members also played a role in Gyros West’s success, according to Leo. “My nieces Christina and Alexia have fond memories of growing up in the restaurant as Julie and I worked alongside their late mother Lisa,” she recalls. “They learned along with my children that the restaurant means everything because it provides for our family. They worked alongside staff providing great service to customers.” Leo’s children, Kristina, Eleni, Sophia, and Peter, also worked at Gyros West through the years; Leo’s brother, Steve Haidemanos, also joined the business after selling his own Milwaukee restaurant in 1993.
Of course, running a successful restaurant for three decades brings challenges. Haideman, his family, and his team emerged stronger from all of them—including the pandemic.
“We’d been in business 30 years when Covid happened— we had to shut down on March 21, 2020,” Haideman recalls. “My daughter, Kristina, said, ‘We have to pivot and do what the franchises do.’ She purchased Square, programmed it herself over a week, and got it going.”
Within two weeks, “we could see the revenue rise,” Haideman says. “Within three weeks, we were the busiest we’d been in our three decades. It’s an astounding story—a computer and your daughter, from zero to blowing the doors off. It proves that parents know they have to work, but the millennials know what you really have to do.” Six weeks later, “we had the busiest Mother’s Day we’ve ever had, without anyone sitting in the restaurant. It was pandemonium. There were people picking up orders, curbside deliveries. It’s a memory I will always carry, of what a family is capable of doing to persevere through something as daunting as the pandemic.”
As he talks to Estiator, Haideman notes that former Waukesha Jeff Scrima, a regular, had stopped by Gyros West for lunch. Scott Walker, the former governor of Wisconsin, “comes in once a month with his family, Former Vice President Dick Cheney came for an event in 2004,”Haideman says. “We’re a place for the whole community.”
Over the years, in turn, Haideman and his Gyros West family have shared appreciation for that community with a series of philanthropic programs. An annual golf outing, in memory of Lisa Haidemanos, raised funds for the American Cancer Society. Gyros West has also been a stalwart supporter of local causes, including Waukesha Memorial Hospital, Summit Aurora Oconomowoc, Elmbrook Hospital, Waukesha Police Department, Banting Elementary School and Hillcrest Elementary School.
“We’ve had the pleasure of catering countless events, hosting fundraisers, donating to local organizations, and being a part of our thriving community. It’s been an honor to give back to the place we call home and create a positive impact,” Haideman says.
Now that the news is out about Gyros West, “a lot of people are expressing gratitude. They’re sad we’re leaving but happy for our entire family that we can enjoy the fruits of our success. Contributions of our employees have helped make us so successful. And for my parents—they worked in factories. They made it all possible.”
