By: Andrea Fine

There are few Newport Beach residents who can claim they have contributed more memorable businesses to Newport Beach and Orange County than Robert (Bob) H. Teller. Bob has been a Newport Beach resident since 1963. He and his late wife, Rita, first visited Balboa Island on their honeymoon. They met in 1954 in Phoenix, Arizona, when Bob was 16 and Rita was 14. Bob said he “saw Rita and knew instantly she was going to be my girlfriend.” They dated on and off through the years and were married in 1962. In 1966 their son Jeff was born, and in 1969, they had their daughter, Jodi.

When the newlyweds first moved to Orange County, Bob had intended to manufacture seatbelts. When he realized that was not a profitable business, he rented a store, near the ferry, on Palm Street, on the peninsula and opened his banana business. At that time, he and Rita were in a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment in Costa Mesa for $135 a month. Bob recalls one afternoon in 1965, a very pregnant. Rita wanted to go to the beach to “see how the other half lived.” There were some beautiful new apartments on the peninsula, The Caribbe Apartments. They were right on the water, just a few blocks from Bob’s shop, “The Original Banana Roll A Rama.” Bob explains in detail, “the first apartment the manager showed us was on the top floor. It was 1600 square feet, with two bedrooms and two baths, a sweeping view of the bay and one parking space. It was $1600 a month!” I told him, “It’s great, but I can’t spend that much. He showed us another apartment on the fourth floor, the same apartment, just not the penthouse. It, too, had a lovely view but was still too much. He took us to the ground floor and showed us another apartment.” He said, “if you stand out here on the patio and look this way, you have a peek-a-boo view of the bay.” I asked him, “how much is this one?” He told me, “$225!” When I told him it was still too much, he asked me, what I wanted to pay. “I told him $135!” After Bob negotiated for two parking spaces and a place to dock both his boat and store the trailer, Bob and Rita soon called The Carribbe Apartments home. Bob credits his skill of negotiating to his dad.

"My dad taught me sales and negotiating are a numbers game. You can’t get a yes if you don’t ask."

Bob continued to grow his business, opening stands at fairs and later in shopping malls. He renamed the business “Bob’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Bars” after he realized while at the Arizona State Fair that for every banana he sold, his competitors would sell ten ice cream bars. Between 1972-1998 they were in 70 retail shopping malls and grew an average of 42% a year. When I asked Bob what or to who he attributes the numbers to, Bob said, “I learned from Dave Barham, the inventor of Hot Dog on a Stick, that it’s all about the process. People like to see a show. They like to see what they are buying is made with quality ingredients right in front of them. We dipped each ice cream bar when it was ordered. Our chocolate was Guitard. The same chocolate See’s candies use. People love value. I gave them value.”

Bob’s other contribution is the Orange County Market Place. This business grew from a chance encounter with Bill Norton in 1957. Bob tells me he and Rita were driving by Greyhound Park in downtown Phoenix when they noticed a man painting a “Swap Meet” sign. Bob said, Rita asked me, “Bob, what’s a Swap Meet?” When I told her I didn’t know, she said,“Well, turn around and ask.” That’s when Bob met Bill. Bill said, “A Swap Meet is where you turn your discards into dollars.” Rita told me, “Bob, you have lots of those. You keep everything.” They cleaned out Bob’s closet and took about 100 shirts to sell. The first swap meet they attended had 19 spots at .50 cents each. Bob recalls, “We couldn’t unload them fast enough. We were selling them at fifty cents each, faster than we could hang them. Rita kicked me and said, Bob, the shirts are now $1 each.” "We were amazed at how fast they sold. She kicked me again and said, “Bob, the shirts are now $2 each.” They made $300 that day.

In 1961 Bob approached the manager of the Orange County fairgrounds about opening a swap meet. He was told, “No!” Bob put the idea on the back burner and focused on his banana business. In 1965 when Bob learned there was a new manager he again presented his business model. This time he was given the green light, and in October 1968, “The Orange County Swap Meet, Treasures, and Trash” made its debut. The Swap Meet grew each year and gave hundreds of vendors the opportunity to earn dollars for their discards. It later became “The Orange County Marketplace,” as new merchandise was also sold. You could buy everything from books to bagels, fresh produce to furniture, and junk to jewelry. Bob said, “We truly offered something for everyone. The food and concessions were our moneymakers.” In 2000 Jeff took over the daily operations of the Market Place. It remained a thriving business creating jobs for thousands until 2016 when the Market Place was sold to Comcast Spectacor. Sadly, soon after the sale, Comcast closed the Marketplace.

When I asked Bob what he attributes his success to, he said, “I live in my imagination. I’m always trying to figure out what I don’t know. Most people are worried about being wrong. I don’t give a sh..!”

“Bob loves to recreate things. He lives in his head. He has lots of ideas. He loves talking about food and all of his travels.” - Dorothy Liener