Wayne Konrardy is Retiring – Interview with One of the Greatest Salesmen EVER!

Wayne Konrardy officially retired from the Air Force in the same year that Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon. Now Wayne Konrardy is retiring from the work force in the same year that the Cubs will finally win the World Series (well … at least the first part of that is true).

After fourteen years at Runde Auto Group, Wayne Konrardy is retiring and he’s ready for some well deserved rest and relaxation. We are all saddened to see him go but are excited for him to have some relaxing time off! If you are interested in picking up a vehicle from Wayne, you have until June 30th, hurry in!

Wayne was gracious enough to participate in an “exit” interview. Be sure to check out the video at the bottom of this post to watch the interview – it completely captures Wayne’s ever-smiling face and his colorful, animated expressions!

How long have you worked for Runde Chevrolet?
14 years in July

What year did you start in the car business?
1979 – It’ll be 34 Years in October.

Have you always worked in Sales?
In the car business? Always.

What do you look forward to the most when you come into work each day?
Seeing my friends. I have a lot of customers that are friends of mine.

What was the highlight about working for Runde’s?
Oh gosh… I’ve had a lot of highlights. I’ve had so many it’s hard to pinpoint one thing. I think it was probably a person, who said she hated car salesmen and at the end of the day she purchased the car, gave me a hug and said that I’m not like everyone else.

Do you plan to keep living in Dubuque or perhaps go some place more exotic?
We’re staying in Dubuque but hopefully we are traveling. My wife says we are just traveling in the U.S. now because we are older.

What is your one most memorable experience in the car business?
I’ve had so many wonderful memories. I think it was when my sister-in-law bought a car from me. Her father sold cars, so she bought all of her cars, naturally, from him. When he passed, I wanted everything special for her when she started buying from me. Not only did I work with her dad but he was also a good friend of mine.

What vacations do you have planned or want to go on?
I want to go to Washington D.C. and see the monuments. I’d like to go overseas one more time, maybe to Europe. I’d also like to go to Ireland. My wife says she’ll go wherever I want but I’d really like to see Rome and the Vatican and all the cool things there.

Wayne with his daily dose of Diet Pepsi

What do you think you’ll do with all that extra free time?
I don’t know but I’m sure my wife is going to tell me. I know that means that I’ll be going on more walks. She likes to go on walks. I told her that she can go on a walk and I’ll wave when she goes and wave when she comes back but I don’t think that will go over well. I told everyone in my neighborhood that they’d probably see me around on my front porch keeping an eye on everything as they go to work 🙂

I’m going to watch my grand kids with their events and spend time with them in general.

How is your family reacting to the fact that you are retiring?
I think they were kind of surprised because they finally realized how old I actually am. I think they were surprised because I act like I’m much younger than my age.  My one brother told me “I didn’t know you were that old!”

What did your wife say when you told her you are going to retire?
My wife is actually the one that wanted me to retire because she’s going to be retiring as well.

At the same time?
Hers is going to be later than mine by a couple of months. But she says then we can spend the rest of our lives the way we want. She’s my buddy and friend, I’ve always enjoyed her company and I’m sure we’ll have a great time.

Wayne’s wife – Mary Konrardy. He fell in love with her the first time they met – 47 years ago.

Are there any special retirement parties planned for you or are you keeping your retirement mostly on the down-low?
My one son and my sister are planning a party for our family in July. It’ll be nice to celebrate at more of a private party with our family. I remember last time we all got together at a sports complex. We rented the batting cage and reminisced by trying to go back to 1965 when I could hit a ball… I ended up going home with blisters on my hands from all of the swinging and missing.  But I always tell them … “I was a pitcher!”

What would you like to tell your loyal and loving customers?
That I’ll miss them. I always tease them and tell them that they can call me at home and I’ll run back over to Runde’s to help them.  But in all seriousness, I think my customers will all continue to be very pleased here. I hand-picked this place because of the way they treat people. And to me that is the important thing. So I think my customers will stay here and I think they will be pleased, I only hope that the salespeople don’t do quite as good of a job as I did so that the customers won’t forget me!

What will you miss most about working?
Having something to do, because I kind of like getting up and coming to work. I also like going home at night but I don’t mind staying after if they need anything, which results in my wife getting a little upset in the case that she is cooking a meal for us. But I will miss this place, I know I will.

What will you have for breakfast the morning of July 1st?  
My wife will have cheerios for me because it’s good for my health, a small glass of milk because I’ll want a large one, probably a banana and one piece of toast, because that’s all she’ll give me. I have to wait until she’s looking the other way to sneak into the cupboard.

…and what are your plans for the rest of that day?
I don’t really know, I told my grand kids that the first day I get a chance I’m going to take the boys back to my old hometown, La Motte, IA and walk the creek to show them the small fish, turtles, and muskrats to relive my memories with them. The only thing I won’t (or shouldn’t) do is pole vault creeks. I used to do that as a kid. I’d have a big stick and I’d go from side to side over the creek. I keep saying I’m not going to… but you never know…

Will your retirement vehicle be a Camaro Convertible, Shelby Mustang or will you finally go after that elusive Corvette?
I don’t think I’d go for any of them. I’m more of a HHR man. They all laugh, but I don’t need anything really fancy in life. I got everything I want; phenomenal family, great wife. I just need a basic car, something that runs good and I already have an HHR and my wife has a new Malibu so we are both good on vehicles.

Wayne later changed his answer:
Wait, Wait! I want to change that answer! Instead of an HHR… an Equinox. that’s my favorite. I like it because they sit up higher, good visibility, great on fuel economy and just overall nice vehicles.

Would you rather Ride on a Train, Dance in the Rain, or Feel no Pain?
Feel no pain. Of course it’s pretty close to riding on a train. I did that when I was 18 and in the Military. Riding from Savannah, IL to Mount Home, ID. But I’d still rather feel no pain.

In your words, what is the purpose of life and what advice would you offer to 16-year-old who has their whole life ahead of them?
Have a good time but just remember that when you go through life, what you do doesn’t affect just your life but so many other people. Just try to be as nice as you can to everybody and hopefully they’ll nice be nice back to you and make the world better.

Anything you’d like to add now that Wayne Konrardy is retiring?
I really liked it here. The Runde’s have been phenomenal to me, every one of them. I’m going to miss them. It’s going to be tough. I’ll stop in. One of the first things I might do is sit on the couch in the showroom and watch people on the lot and yell out to the salesmen that there is someone out on the lot!

Check out the Wayne Konrardy is Retiring video interview below: