The Lone Star Spirit

Traveling along I-35, most can tell when they are near the Austin City Limit sign; perhaps they hear live music, spot the UT tower, feel the hot air, or even smell the barbeque. That is Austin’s unique atmosphere; it makes it an exceptional place to live and a wonderful place to visit.

The city’s “Keep Austin Weird” motto and its support for small businesses are what give Austin its local flavor. This has several implications, but to Mary and Chris Halenza, it meant their family business had a chance to survive.

The Halenzas are an average Central Texas couple by day and kettle corn fanatics by the weekend. In an effort to add an extra income, as well as a little spice to their life, this couple established Lone Star Kettle Corn in February 2007.

The duo dreamed of seeing their homemade kettle corn on the selves of local grocery stores. For three years the Halenzas went to fairs and carnivals in the Austin area promoting their product, but they were soon ready to move into the retail sphere. The full-time working family handed the job of selling over to Dana McCoy, the owner of another locally grown business, Yum Runnerz.

Dana is local food broker, who set out this year to follow her foodie tendencies and take on the job of helping small food artisans in the Austin area grow their business. Living in Austin, where the influence of local business is celebrated, spurred Dana’s desire to explore honest-to-goodness food and create Yum Runnerz.

“I focus on specialty foods, but locality is most important,” Dana said. “At Yum Runnerz, we believe buying local is beneficial for so many reasons, including helping the small guy compete with the big guns.”

The Halenzas’ dream quickly came to life after Dana picked up the company. Lone Star was already in Motley Menagerie Tea Room in Kyle and with the determination of Yum Runnerz, Lone Star Kettle Corn was in six more stores within months. This Texas-spirited product can be found in both Royal Blue groceries, Callahan’s General Store, both Newflower Farmer’s Markets, and is available with Greenling’s Organic Delivery.

Mary said, “When we are asked where people can find us next, we are able to say ‘anytime at the following locations...’ and the customer is excited to have our kettle corn between our events.”

The couple also does popping demonstrations of their kettle corn in front of some of these locations. These are a fun way of displaying the process of producing the corn in a huge kettle.

“Their kettle corn has a nice balance of sweet and salty flavors,” Dana said. “The added Mexican vanilla is their secret weapon.”

The Halenzas hope to open a storefront one-day and possibly get involved with such Austin festivals as ACL or SXSW.

“It is my dream to see Lone Star Kettle Corn be the next craving people seek out in Austin,” Mary said.

The story of these two small businesses depending on each other represents the spirit of Austin, the local movement, and the ability for small businesses to thrive within a large city. The local businesses in Austin are what make it special; without them, the city might be more like… Dallas.