The Joanne Helms Story – from Mineral Point to Runde PreDriven

Joanne Helms of Mineral Point, WI came in to Runde PreDriven in Hazel Green today to buy a vehicle with her son-in-law, Rob Busser, who was there to assist her. Joanne is a coffee shop aficionado and loves her new Equinox.  See what Joanne and Dave are saying about their experience at Runde’s and how small town gossip can lead to big time satisfaction.

What led you into Runde’s?
I know my sister-in-law bought a car from here a number of years ago and I’ve been hearing good things lately from more and more people buying and talking about Runde’s from where I’m from.

What area are you from?
I’m from Mineral Point, WI. Which has a population of about 3000 people.
I go to a coffee shop every morning and it’s the morning gossip as far as who got a car and we all talk about that.

What vehicle did you end up buying?
A used Chevy Equinox.

Very nice vehicle, what Color?
Mocha Steel. I walked the whole parking lot and that’s the one that I liked the most. Dave, our Runde PreDriven salesman, called us earlier in the day and got everything ready for us.

What are you going to use the vehicle for?
I am working so I drive it to work and for seeing family. I knew I wanted an Equinox because that’s the vehicle I traded in and I liked that but wanted the features of the new model.

On a scale of 1-10, what would you rate your experience at Runde’s?
We would rate it very high, we’d give it a 9/10.
Rob: 10 would be you giving us the car! *laughs*

What would you rate your salesman, Dave Smith?
Dave seems very personable and it felt like he was working for me. We would rank him a 9 as well.

So who’s all in the family?
I have 2 daughters, my son-in-law and a grandson. My husband passed away.
Rob: And that’s why I’m here – I’m the car guy now! *laughs*

Are you guys pretty close as a family?
Rob: Oh yeah, we camp all summer long. I work in the sheriff’s department and work a lot of weekends so my wife, son and Joanne will go down to the camp ground in Jelly Stone in Bagley, WI. There’s a lot of activities to do and we have some great camping friends.

Where do you work, Joanne?
I work at Lands’ End in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. I’ve worked there for 31 years. My daughter also works there and we will often drive there together.

What else do you like to do in the area?
I belong to a couple of coffee groups. We meet every morning at 6:30 and go to different coffee shops around town. On Saturday I go to more of a family coffee group in Mineral Point which includes my sister-in-law’s, Aunts, etc.

How many Coffee Shops do you go to?
We have it all set up – On Monday and Wednesday we go to the Red Rooster and on Tuesday we go to the Pit-Stop so we can get the shopping news publication so we can get updated with all the specials going on.  Then, on Thursday and Friday’s we go to another coffee bar called Pointer Cafe in Mineral Point. We know what day of the week it is depending on where we are!

So if a new coffee shop comes up, do you mix things up and try it out?
Yes we do.  They usually spring up and go down so we try every new coffee shortly after they open because it might go down the next week!

What kind of Coffee do you drink?
Usually just a regular house blend.

Do you go on any family trips?
Sometimes we go to Wisconsin Dells. We also go on day-trips every once in a while.
Rob: My wife is the website liaison for Lands’ End for the UK and Germany. So she’ll go over to those countries for work every once in a while.

If you were to win the lottery, what would be the first thing you would do with the money?
Rob: I’d fix some of the streets in Mineral Point. After that, I’d buy some hunting land.
Joanne: I’d like to do something for the elementary school kids. They need a boost to their system since the state funding is cut back. I’d also help out my church.

There’s one thing we are NOT spending money on: the New Orleans Saints.
A freelancer that comes into Lands’ End is a Saints fan and I am a Packers fan and he is always teasing my Packers. When the Packers and the Saints played it was a very close game and I was getting really nervous because I’d have to hear all about how the Saints won from that worker. But we [The Packers] ended up winning. And wouldn’t you know – that man didn’t come into work the next day and when he finally did come in he refused to talk about football!

Rob, how long have you been married to Joanne’s Daughter?
12 years. We met in a bar at Darlington, WI. She was working and I hanged around with her and walked her out when she got off. She said that she didn’t think I’d call her back… Wednesday I called her back. We actually knew each other from before because we both had the same forensic class.

That’s all the questions I had for you guys, if you have anything you’d like to add, you’re more than welcome to.
I’d just like to say that the Runde website is wonderful. For a person like me who hasn’t learned her way on the computer, I could get in there and navigate perfectly.
Rob: Yeah, when I came in to pick her up she had a bunch of sheets printed out of vehicles she was interested in. I was thinking: “this is a first for me Joanne”! I was astonished that she used the computer like that!