Tanner's Big Orange is more than a restaurant, it's a family tradition

John Zeller takes a special pride in owning Greenville's tallest, oldest and most faded orange sign alongside South Pleasantburg Drive.

Next to the Tanner's Big Orange sign, a giant hotdog display reminds passing traffic of food and drink available six days a week.

Zeller's real name appears on his business cards but he has answered to "Mr. Tanner" close to 25 years now, ever since his father retired from the family business known for a unique orange drink, hot dogs and the Tanner name.

Zeller also recommends the chili pimento cheese burger, bird dog (a chicken tender version of a hotdog), barbeque dog, grilled cheese or anything else paired with the special orange drink prepared in the kitchen a few feet from the frying station.

Demand for Tanner's Big Orange signature drink requires a 300-gallon stainless steel tank. At least one piece of kitchen equipment, a 50-gallon stainless steel container used to dispense the orange drink during peak demand, has been in the family as long, maybe longer, than the current Mr. Tanner, 60.

His grandmother used the same steel container at Tanner's Fruit Juices and Sandwich Shop, which opened at 124 N. Main St. in the early 1950s.

"We're old school," Zeller told The Greenville News recently.

His family roots run orange four generations deep, something Zeller has embraced. His closet has enough orange-colored shirts to wear one each day without having to repeat for up to three weeks. He has an orange tie and orange socks.

Longtime employees and customers say they remain loyal to the Tanner's Big Orange for reasons beyond the carnival-esque décor, a mix of clown paintings displayed on the walls with an assortment of orange items hanging from the ceiling, from a bicycle to golf clubs to stuffed animals.

They say the place makes them feel like they've traveled back in time.

"It hasn't changed here since I was a little girl," said Gale Newman, who declined to share her age. "I love this place because it hasn't changed a bit."

A half-dozen or so Big Orange employees recognize longtime, frequent customers for good reason. They started working there in the 1980s, an extremely long tenure for multiple employees at a fast-food restaurant.

Tammy Lykens, 45, began work at the fast-food restaurant 25 years ago, roughly the same time John Zeller began to transition into ownership of the business from his dad, Jim Zeller, 87.

"We stay here for so long because they're good people," Lykens said of the father and son. "They make you feel like you're part of a family."

Employees even share stories of financial assistance provided by the Zeller's through the years. Workers in a financial bind have received heaters during cold months, an advance on an upcoming paycheck and even new tires.

Jim Zeller moved to Winter Haven, Florida, after retiring from the fruit juice and hot dogs and burger business but said the place stays with him through memories and occasional visits.

Coincidentally, he lives near orange groves now. The retired restaurateur spoke to The Greenville News earlier this week about his decision to provide additional assistance to employees through the years.

"From a strictly business standpoint, you're going to lose a little," he said. "But we're not going to stand by and watch one of our employees go without heat during the wintertime."

John Zeller echoed his father's statements during a separate interview.

"The truth is we care about our people," he said.

John Zeller wears a smile as often as an orange shirt but said his desire to continue the long days at work transcends profits.

He said belief in the family business and shared Christian beliefs of serving others convinced him to embrace the family business, even the long days when he personally delivers and unloads 500 pounds of sugar.

"There's a great value in being Mr. Tanner and keeping the family legacy going," he said. "We all want purpose in life."

Adding to Zeller's life seven years ago, he married his wife, Joni. During a recent lunch at Tanner's Big Orange, she shared an experience she had as a teenager with the hotdog and fruit juice business.

"I applied for a job here but wasn't hired," she said.

More than Greenville business

Tanner-related businesses have remained a constant in Greenville since the President Franklin D. Roosevelt served in the White House.

Many Upstate old-timers recall the Orange Mill, the business started by John Zeller's grandparents in 1943. However, fewer know the first Tanner's Fruit Drinks and Sandwich Shop opened in Texas in the 1930s.

Altogether, the family has opened nearly 30 Tanner's restaurants, operating in at least eight states, stretching from the Lone Star state to Savannah, Georgia.

Three generations ago, John Zeller's great-grandfather and great-great-uncle left their native Missouri after losing their Buick dealership during the Great Depression.

Their decision to pursue sandwiches and fruit drinks as a successful business model paid off. The brothers owned and operated businesses separately from each other, but both used their operations to provide jobs for friends and family in Missouri.

Photos of the early Tanner juice and sandwich businesses show no tables inside, only tall countertops where customers ordered. John Zeller's great-grandfather opened his first Tanner's in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the late 1930s.

A generation later in Greenville, Erwin Zeller and Amber Tanner Zeller — John's grandparents — opened the Orange Mill on Main Street. Erwin Zeller completed plumbing and electrical work necessary to open the business but still lacked an important piece of equipment.

"They didn't have a cash register when they opened up," Jim Zeller said of his parents. "They had a cigar box."

Decades later, Jim Zeller served in World War II and operated three Tanner's in Atlanta before returning to Greenville, where he helped his mother, then divorced, operate the businesses.

Decades of selling hot dogs and juice shaped his ways, and he said he now can't imagine life without Tanner's Big Orange and the others. Jim Zeller said he feels thankful opportunity to own his own business and resources to pay nursing home expenses for his mother, who died at age 93.

"I was able to spend time with her until the day she died," Jim Zeller said. "I really have the stores to thank for making that happen."

Legacy

Four generations, twice as many states and unknown amounts of hotdogs and hundreds of thousands of gallons of orange drink later, the family's businesses have dwindled to the single Tanner's Big Orange.

The Tanner brothers in the 1930s had never heard of franchising, the way McDonald's and dozens of other fast-food businesses have continued to expand and grow revenues.

In Florida more than 550 miles away, Jim Zeller still serves food to others. Now he delivers Meals on Wheels to people unable to leave their homes. But he tries not to touch oranges any more.

"I handled oranges so much for so many years, when I start messing around with them now my hands start breaking out," he said. "I guess the citric acid got into my system so much I can't tolerate it any more."

The physical reaction to oranges doesn't reflect how Jim Zeller views Tanner's Big Orange. He has reflected on the businesses' legacy, as well as his own, especially during visits to the store his son now operates.

"The thing that I enjoy mostly when I go up there now is to see people come in that I knew when they were kids, to come in there with their kids and grandkids," he said. "To see them come in there and enjoy themselves there, that means a lot to me."

John Zeller has no plans to leave the family business any time soon but acknowledges spending lots of time wondering about the future. His two children seem unlikely to bring Tanner's Big Orange into a fifth generation of ownership; his daughter enjoys work in healthcare, and his son was born with developmental delays.

The question lingers: What's next for Tanner's? He doesn't know.

"I wish I had all of the sleep I've lost thinking about that," John said recently, chatting at a booth in the restaurant. "I'll be 61 years old in March, but in my mind I'll still be doing this for another 10 years."

His dad turns to his faith when discussing John's day-to-day management of the family business while also considering the uncertainty.

"I'm very satisfied with John's situation with the Lord," Jim Zeller said. "We both have the same Lord, and I'm sure he guides him just as well as he guides me."