With the turn of the new year, Colony residents may notice some slight changes at the Country Diner — a result of new ownership at one of the most well known local establishments.
Gary and LaNell Knoll, along with Roger Young, bought the diner and officially took ownership of the store on Dec. 21 from Nancy and Ed Ellington.
“We wanted to keep the business in the community,” LaNell said. “So we are just taking care of the ‘child’ that Nancy has raised.”
In fact, LaNell said Nancy was the person who instigated the efforts to transfer the ownership from her and her husband to the Knolls and Young. She said Nancy was coming to a point in her life where she wanted to spend more time with her family, so she decided to let the diner go.
As for the partnership between the three, LaNell said “it just kind of happened that way.”
Young, who originally grew up in Garnett, has been in the area for 11 years and as long a loyal patron of the Country Diner.
“I’ve been eating there for forever,” Young said. “The people there are awesome.”
Both the owners and the operations manager, Brenda Dowling, agreed the transition would be a good opportunity to change some things in the business. Major changes include a convenience store added and an expanded menu. Some of the included items are steak, fried chicken and Rock Mountain oysters.
The convenience store is attached to the diner, with an entrance from the inside. It carries everything from bread and milk, to cigarettes and soda pop. It will be open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Four new employees have been hired to operate the store.
“Before, you couldn’t run out of milk if it was dark, raining or snowing,” Dowling said. “It’s 12 or 13 miles in either direction before you get to a grocery store.”
Dowling said the store plans to do some remodeling in the next month or so, which will include adding new floors to the dining area. The diner has added Wi-Fi as well.
Some changes that may not be so apparent are the catering service now offered by the diner, as well as the convenience store’s partnership with Crest schools — they will be serving Hunt’s Pizza in the cafeteria, which the store serves fresh. And for those who were a fan of Nancy’s cooking, fear not, for she will be cooking two days a week.
Young said the community support has been “overwhelming,” and they are seeing success for their first month.
“We are selling out of our specials, so that’s got to say something,” Young said. “We don’t want to be stagnant, we want to branch out to the people.”
Dowling said they hope to be “more than a diner,” which is why they have expanded so much in the past month. They have seen an increase in their clientele, including many new faces from Iola and even Olathe.
The new hours of the diner are Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Diner sees changes with new ownership
