NEW ULM – After 13 years as part-owner of the B&L Bar in downtown New Ulm and 30 years in the liquor business, Jeff Gulden sold his part of the business and says stories that he is leaving town are only rumors.

After a decade as New Ulm Hy-Vee Foods store manager, Bill Kittler worked as a Hy-Vee Foods corporate officer for the past three years while living in New Ulm with his family. Kittler will co-own the B&L with Rick Kamm, who co-owned it with Gulden since they bought the bar in 2002.

“We wanted to stay in New Ulm,” Kittler said, explaining how he became part of the B&L business.

For the affable Gulden, working at the B&L was about people.

“It’s been an adventure owning a bar,” Gulden said. “One thing that makes me happy is that we’ve still got more than a handful of employees who began working for us when we opened the bar in 2002. It’s those people that made the difference in our success.”

He has experienced a number of law changes over 13 years and changed his mind about them. “Regarding the no-smoking law, I thought everyone had a right to smoke at first; but now, I think it’s a good thing the law was passed,” Gulden said.

On a 2 a.m. closing time, he said not much good happens after midnight. New Ulm bars opted not to be open until 2 a.m.

Gulden recalled the first time the B&L was open the day of Schell’s Bockfest event. “We were dumbfounded at the number of people that came to the bar from Schell’s Brewery,” he said. “Now, we’ve got it down to a science.”

Gulden even made a trip to Mardi Gras in New Orleans to get an idea of how to deal with large crowds at Bockfest.

“I realized we needed a ton of beads to sell, so I ordered them and we sold them,” he said.

Another challenge was keeping up with all the types of Schell’s beer the brewery continues to create. “We’ve usually got 15 to 16 types of Schell’s beer on tap,” he said.

Gulden said New Ulm is fortunate to have the tourist attractions it does.

“I don’t know if people here really realize all we have and how good it is,” he said. “We’ve got lots of things to draw people – Schell’s Brewery, the Glockenspiel, the Brown County Historical Society & Museum, Hermann, Oktoberfest, Bavarian Blast, Martin Luther College and other things. We’ve also got a lot of interesting people, and I’ve met a lot of interesting people that came into the bar.”

Gulden said George Wendt, who played “Norm” on the popular TV show “Cheers,” spent about 90 minutes in the B&L when he visited New Ulm several years ago. “I think he was here a little longer than he was supposed to, maybe because he was having such a good time.”

He sees craft beers and lower consumption as one of the industry’s biggest trends. “I think many people would rather drink two or three craft beers now instead of five to seven non-craft beers many people would drink in the past,” Gulden said.

“It’s just time for a change after so many years,” he said about his selling out his share of the B&L. “I think we’ve had good employees. The key is to treat people like you would like to be treated.”

(Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).