Locally run, family owned

tradition continues with Arnold family

By ELI LUTGENS

Publisher/Editor

The time was right.

Travis Blake, former owner of the Willows restaurant in New Richland, liked to joke that if he ever sold the place, he knew who he would offer it to first.

“I asked if he was really serious this time,” Julie Arnold, the new owner of the Willows said. “When he said he was really going to sell it, I asked myself, ‘If I’m not gonna buy it, then who?’ 

“It’s something to pass down to my son Chris, an opportunity for our family.” 

Arnold, 57, originally from Denver, Iowa, settled in New Richland in the late '90s; she and her then husband Mark O’Brien raised three children, all of whom graduated from NRHEG. In 2008, only a year after the Willows was established, she applied with owner Jim Blake for a job at the restaurant.  

“I’ve enjoyed the last 16 years getting to know all the different people,” Arnold said. “If it weren’t for the Willows, I wouldn’t know them. I’m looking forward to the years ahead.”

Arnold said former owner Travis Blake, who took over the business from his dad Jim Blake in 2016, plans to help through the transition in ownership, staying until the end of March when he plans to go full time with his own food-truck business. 

“I think it would be different if I went out and said, ‘I want to buy a restaurant in an unknown community.’” Arnold observed. “I’m serving the community. I’m looking forward to [...] the future.” 

Arnold first got her start in the food industry in the late '80s at McNamara's Pub and Grill in Faribault. She quickly rose from server to bartender to bar manager before leaving. She recalls holding nearly every job there is in the restaurant businesses, a career she says spans 25 years, broken apart only by her time as a stay-at-home mom. 

Her children, Arnold stresses, are the most important element in her life.

The first person she consulted when deciding whether owning the restaurant would be desirable was her youngest son Chris and her husband John Arnold. 

“I wanted John’s support because this job has long hours,” Arnold said.

“Chris, he’s the full-time cook,” Arnold said. “And I can teach him the rest of the businesses over the coming years… In five to ten years, he can take over.” 

Chris, a 2021 NRHEG graduate, has worked for the Willows since he was 14 years old. His brother Nathan also helps out with various roles. “Nathan is our fix-it guy,” Arnold said. “He’s our maintenance man, always willing to help however he can.”

Asked if she had any plans for change, Arnold said no. 

“Nothing huge, nothing dramatic,” she commented. 

A new sign and logo as well as an updated back deck are the only things Arnold plans to do over the coming months.

“We’re in the same boat as Travis. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” Arnold explained. “I get told, ‘Okay, whatever you do, don’t get rid of this (menu item)… Because that’s why I come here.”’

The Willows’ hours will remain similar to what they were. 

Sundays: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

Mondays: Closed

Tuesday-Saturday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. 

Bar hours subject to change.

Arnold said she hopes to put together some type of celebration in the coming months, nothing anytime soon, however. In the meantime she plans to continue enjoying her favorite aspect of the job, social interaction. 

As a first-time business owner and one who built her skills from the ground up, she enjoys the opportunity to encourage members of the youthful community members who apply with her for their first-ever jobs. 

“I tell them nobody’s perfect. Mistakes are going to be made. It’s nothing to be scared of. It might be a little scary at first… This too shall pass.

 

“The biggest hurdle is figuring out where everything is,” Arnold added. “And I always remind everyone, I only live a mile up the road. I can be here in five minutes.”