You Want Soma-Dis?

Soma-Dis Deli, a hallmark of the Glasgow community, celebrates 25 years of business this year, a milestone for any local eatery. Hope Jones-Farr, who was one of the original owners, alongside her husband Kevin Farr, sold the Deli in 2022 to Kyle Bilger. The deli has been the spot for multiple generations of Glasgow youth in the past quarter century, something that many businesses struggle to do.

The doors of Soma-Dis officially opened on June 8, 1998, and Jones-Farr recalled that they were severely underprepared for the deluge of customers flooding through the doors. She remembers all of the chaos of the early days of business stating, “We flew by the seat of our pants,” when discussing how the deli was run. The early days were crazy, and though they had no prior experience with running a restaurant they learned along the way.

The early days of a restaurant are some of the most important, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “17 percent of independently owned full-service restaurant businesses failed in their first year.” They go on to explain, “The median lifespan of restaurants is 4.5 years,” meaning that Soma-Dis certainly beat the odds staying open for so long.

When asked her secret to keeping the deli open for the 24 years that she did, Jones-Farr stated that it was “stubbornness” that kept them open. She never wanted to see the business fail. She also gave credit to her employees through the years, stating that she was blessed with great staff who cared as much about the business. She wanted to give credit to her sons Jackson and Keefe Farr and her daughter-in-law Andrea Farr, who pitched in heavily at the deli, as well as Vickie Wiseman who would run the deli during the school year when Jones-Farr would teach at the local high school.

Though she wanted more than anything to see the Soma-Dis stay open, Jones-Farr stated that she wasn’t in it for the money. Rather the deli to her was all about family, location and community. She treated all her staff as if they were family, and would spend as much time doing the same work as her employees. Her thought being that a good owner should be someone willing to do anything that there staff would do.

Another important aspect of the family business feel of the deli comes from the story behind the name. Jones-Farr stated that the story behind the name was quite simple. It was something that her husband, Kevin, would say when joking around with his friends, “You want soma-dis?” and the phrase stuck with her enough to become the name of the business.

She also felt the quality of the food was extremely important, knowing that a high quality yet reasonably priced sandwich would set them apart from other fast paced eateries in Glasgow. Their most important offering would be the bread, the foundation of the sandwich, which they started baking fresh daily after their former distributor shut down. Jones-Farr credits Kevin Bosgard for giving the deli their recipes for the bread, which she originally baked in turkey roasters due to the lack of bread pans.

Though she enjoyed running the deli and was in charge of the place for many years, time as always moves forward and the “family” in the family business would grow and eventually follow their own paths in life. She would explain that running the deli didn’t feel the same without her family working there, though this would not be the only reason for her to start thinking about selling the deli. The COVID-19 pandemic would also play a major role in her decision, as she had come down with the disease and was confronted with her own mortality. So with the mounting stress of running two businesses, suffering from COVID-19, and her feelings about the deli changing she decided on June 5, 2022, to sell Soma-Dis Deli to Kyle Bilger. When asked why she chose to sell to Bilger, she said that she felt he was the right choice.

Bilger when asked if he had any connection to the deli before purchasing the place stated that he grew up with her kids and that the deli was the place to be when he was an adolescent. He also mentioned that he felt that he was a successor of some sort stating, “Hope wanted me to buy it” when asked his reason for purchasing the deli. Jones-Farr stated that she felt that one of the reasons for him being the right choice was that he was a father. Her kids turned out great in her opinion and cites that the environment they grew up in, the deli, was a major factor in why they turned out the way they did. She hopes that the same will be the case with his daughter.

Bilger when asked about his intentions for the deli, explained that he wanted the deli to feel like the old deli but with a more modern twist, that way it could remain the spot for the growing youth of Glasgow while still catering to the original customer base that they’ve had for 25 years. He called the deli “The last hidden gem in Glasgow” and he wanted to keep that spirit and image alive while he runs it. A new idea that he has been playing with is Gluten Free Fridays, where the deli bakes fresh gluten free breads to see if there is a market for it in Glasgow. He also stated that in terms of advertising, social media and word of mouth have been the most important to getting the customers in.

Soma-Dis still feels like Soma-Dis, for anyone who hasn’t been to the deli in years it still has the high standard of quality as well as the strong family and community feel of days past. If you are interested in keeping up with the deli you can follow them on Facebook at: Soma-Dis Deli, or you can stop in and grab a sandwich at: 501 2nd Ave. S in Glasgow.