A downtown Sheboygan landmark has new owners who are fulfilling a dream of owning a business.
Diedre Martinez and her husband Samuel Melei purchased Rupp’s Downtown Supper Club from Sandra Rupp, whose husband had purchased the business in 1979. Richard Rupp died in 2019.
Martinez’s family had owned restaurants growing up in the Northwest U.S. and she worked when needed in various capacities, but this is her first foray into ownership. Melei is an attorney and Martinez has been CEO of the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce for eight years. They intend to continue those careers as they pursue business ownership.
“Certainly I’ve learned a lot from the small businesses I’ve worked with over the years,” Martinez says.
The decision to buy Rupp’s was not hurried. The restaurant was listed for sale twice before they considered it and Martinez says they talked about it for about six months.
“I’ve talked for about 25 years of opening a restaurant or bed and breakfast — something in that hospitality space,” Martinez says. “Like anybody who wants to start a small business, you can have a dream, but you also need all of the other pieces to line up just enough to have that dream become a reality.”
Martinez says Rupp’s has been an important part of downtown for decades and that made ownership appealing.
“It was really about the people … and the community they’ve created within the walls of the restaurant. We just look so forward to continuing that and expanding that,” Martinez says.
There are nearby developments that also are revitalizing downtown Sheboygan including a new downtown hotel planned for a site across the street from Rupp’s and expansion of the Weill Center for the Performing Center.
Martinez says they are not planning wholesale changes for Rupp’s but see opportunities for growth through updates and refining the business. It will continue to run as a family-owned business with their adult children helping them to operate the restaurant.
They obtained a $350,000 loan from the city of Sheboygan’s revolving loan fund, and in addition to purchasing and updating the restaurant they plan to renovate two vacant spaces on the upper floor as apartments. There are a total of four spaces on the second floor with one housing a business and the other an apartment.
Martinez says community support has helped them during the transition with family and friends pitching in, but also with people visiting as they reopened.
“The community has really embraced us,” Martinez says, thanking them.
