Patrick J. OConnor - Meet Me at Rays: A Celebration of Rays Place in Kent, Ohio

An imprint of The Kent State University Press

Kent, Ohio 44242 www.KentStateUniversityPress.com

Black Squirrel Books

Frisky, industrious black squirrels are a familiar sight on the Kent State University campus and the inspiration for Black Squirrel Books, a trade imprint of The Kent State University Press.

www.KentStateUniversityPress.com

Copyright 2013 by The Kent State University Press

All rights reserved

Library of Congress Catalog Number 2012048530

ISBN 978-1-60635-173-4

Manufactured in the United States of America

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Meet Me at Rays supports the Rays Place Entrepreneurship Scholarship in Kent State Universitys College of Business Administration.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

O'Connor, Patrick J. (Patrick James), 1950

Meet me at Ray's: a celebration of Ray's Place in Kent, Ohio / Patrick J. O'Connor.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-60635-173-4 (paperback)

1. Ray's Place (Kent, Ohio) 2. RestaurantsOhioKentHistory. 3. Bars (Drinking establishments)OhioKentHistory. 4. SportsSocial aspectsOhioKentHistory. 5. College studentsOhioKentSocial life and customs. 6. Kent (Ohio)Social life and customs. 7. Kent (Ohio)Biography. I. Title.

TX 945.5. R 39 O 25 2013

647.95771'37dc23

2012048530

17 16 15 14 13 5 4 3 2 1

To the many loyal customers,

employees, owners, vendors, and friends

of Rays Place since 1937

Charles Ray Charlie Thomas

Rays Place original building ca. 1898

Ray and Margie Salitore

Rays Place as seen from Franklin Avenue

International beers on draft

Rays basement with kegs

Television at Rays in 1946

Rocky and Joe Flogge with Yogi Berra

Homecoming at Rays Place

The Budweiser Clydesdales at Rays Place

Mary and Buddy LoCicero and Tom Shaw

The Walking Clampetts

The phone booth

Condom night in 1990

The Cline-Sopko wedding party

The Frahlich-Diamond wedding party

Vanetta Gertie Gritton and staff

The Rays Place management team

Joe Shircliff and shot wheel

Joe Shircliff in 1943

Drew Carey and Rays Place staff

The original Rays Place ca. 1940

Harry the Jeweler and friends

The Flogge family in 1954

Verna Flogge

The Flogge family in 2012

Rays cash registers

Rays first Daily Kent Stater ad

Vanetta Gertie Gritton and coworker

Rocky and Andy Flogge in 1938

Charlie Thomas and moose

Mothers Junction becomes Rays Upstairs

Charlie and Diane Thomas in 2003

Spaghetti Night advertisement

On Sunday evening, December 12, 1978, the previous owners of Rays Place and I had just completed taking inventory of stock and supplies since I was taking over the following day. As we were preparing to leave, Buddy LoCicero, one of the owners, said, You probably want to stay and let this all sink in. When we bought the place, we just sat here and couldnt believe it was ours. I said, No, I have a feeling Im going to be spending a lot of time here. And so, the journey began!

From the very beginning, all I did was work, because I knew that was what it was going to take to make the place successful. One of the first things I did was call a meeting with what were now my employees and lay the foundation for the future of Rays Place. I told them I was eliminating the drink tokens. The previous owners had rewarded employees for working a shift by giving them tokens that could be redeemed for drinks. I told them, No more tokens, which, needless to say, went over like a lead balloon. Under the previous owners, when the late-night shift was over, the employees had to stay to mop the floors and clean the establishment. I told them, Starting today, when you finish your late-night shift, you will no longer have to stay and clean the place, and Im giving everyone a raise. That was a crowd pleaser and really helped with taking away the tokens. I then proceeded to explain the Rays Place success equation:

Rays Place = the customer + employee + physical plant

I explained why the customer was first in the equation and how the employee is so important to the business. Finally, I explained where the physical plant, meaning the building, equipment, furniture, pictures, and the like, fit into the scheme of things. To finish, I laid out the three Rays Place commandments:

1. Thou shall not steal.

2. Thou shall not knowingly serve someone under age.

3. Thou shall not drink on the job.

This started my ownership of Rays Place and set the stage for how it was going to proceed in the future. I knew from the start that I was going to have to practice what I was preaching... that I would have to do everything I expected of the employees. I realized early on that Rays Place was much larger than me. It takes a lot of good people to make Rays the place it is. Im sure that each of the previous owners realized that the customer is everything, because without the customer a business is nothing.

Rays Place has changed many times throughout the years, but each time the customer was first and foremost in the thought process. I like to say that Rays Place is always changing but it remains the same. It is like an old shoe: its comfortable, it stretches, it bends, but it is stable.

Would you buy a Mo-Fo from this man? Charles Ray Charlie Thomas in 1979. Photo courtesy of Charlie Thomas.

Seventy-five years is a long time, unless youre referring to oceans or mountains. Its an especially long time in the life of a small business. Lots of things can happen over the decades: changes in customer tastes and preferences, financial struggles, economic downturns, competition, government regulation, and just plain fate can bounce a small business around like a beach ball. Its a major accomplishment to weather the various storms that can rage over the years. Yet in a small college town in Ohio, one business stands out among others that have faced these storms.

About 50 bars in Kent, Ohio, have come and gone while one endures. Rays Place celebrated three-quarters of a century in business in 2012, which gave me the idea of writing this book.

For the last 25 years I have enjoyed going to Rays Place. Ive gone with friends, colleagues, family members, and sometimes just by myself. And in my travels, if I wore anything to identify myself with Kent State University, strangers would frequently strike up conversations that related to Rays. The more I went to Rays, the more curious I became as to how this one business could have such an amazing following of customers. I also began to notice that the same employees were there, year after year. Having a bit of a business background myself, I was curious about the unique ways the business operated and how it has lasted so long. I listened as customers talked about their affection for Rays Place, especially during Kent State Universitys Homecoming celebrations when that affection was at its peak.