THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994                    TAG: 9406090466 
SECTION: BUSINESS                     PAGE: I1    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY MITCHELL MILLER, ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: 940609                                 LENGTH: LIGHTFOOT 

THE FOUNDER'S GRANDSON IS READY TO MAKE HIS MARK AT THE POTTERY

But at 24, Hawkins is president of one of the country's most unique shopping attractions.

{REST} Spread out over more than 200 acres, the pottery, as it's often called, looks like the world's largest garage sale - only most of the items are new. Its hodgepodge of buildings are scattered in an area only about five miles from the refined atmosphere of Colonial Williamsburg.

The ``bizarre bazaar,'' as the pottery also has been called, actually outdraws the historic attraction, bringing in 3 million to 4 million visitors a year. Colonial Williamsburg draws about 1 million.

The pottery's inventory is unlike any other: giant plant pots, flower pots, brass pots, silk flowers, dried flowers, fresh flowers, knights in armor to put in the yard, vintage signs advertising 5-cent cigars, black-and-white photos of baseball greats like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.

The items are displayed in flea-market fashion and often carry price tags well below items in retail stores.

``We never designed anything to be beautiful. We just made it work,'' Hawkins said. ``We've never gone into real fancy displays. We've just done what would get the merchandise up for sale.''

The first merchandise was sold 56 years ago by Hawkins' grandfather, Jimmy Maloney, who started the operation with a pottery kiln and a roadside stand.

Maloney, 82, still controls the family-owned business and recently made his grandson president. Fixing a date on when that occurred is difficult because, according to Maloney, ``At the pottery, titles don't mean a damn thing.''

What matters is what people do - what they make, how they work. Hawkins oversees more than 600 employees. He has experience in just about every facet of the business.

Hawkins started working for his grandfather when he was 9 years old. One of his first jobs was cutting ragweed for a penny a bunch.

``Jimmy would turn around and sell them for 99 cents a bunch,'' Hawkins said, ``and that's where I learned about the business.''

Each summer he would be assigned to a new department on the sprawling property, which includes more than 30 buildings, some filled with shelves that stretch longer than a football field.

``I've done everything from sweeping floors, running cash registers, pouring cement, making pottery. There's not much I haven't done.''

Hawkins succeeded Mike Long as chief executive after Long resigned this year. Long worked for the pottery through the spring to help ease the transition.

Hawkins, who grew up nearby in an era of fancy malls with specialty stores and food courts, said he wants the Williamsburg Pottery Factory to retain its unique character.

``People drive by 100,000 Kmarts and Wal-Marts and Rose's stores to come here, so there must be something they're looking for,'' he said.

If it's not too big, your purchase will be wrapped in newspaper. The high-volume, no-frills approach keeps prices so low that store owners drive long distances to load up on items they'll sell elsewhere.

``There's nobody else that can, one-on-one, compete with us,'' said Hawkins, who never left the business to go to college.

Though Hawkins is president, Maloney is still active. They meet each weekday morning around 7 to discuss business plans.

Walking through the original pottery building recently, which is lined with hundreds of handmade vases and bottles, Maloney picked up a pot that didn't meet his approval.

``Tell him when we put a stamp on there, we want to read it,'' he said to Hawkins, who checked with a worker about the problem.

The stamp, which shows that reproductions meet Colonial Williamsburg specifications for historical accuracy, is important to Maloney. For years he has sold 18th century pottery reproductions to the historic attraction.

The family doesn't discuss finances publicly, but analysts have estimated annual sales from the Williamsburg Pottery Factory at between $60 million and $80 million.

Long tried to bring tighter inventory controls and other reforms to the business during his four years there.

``It's a whole lot to get a grasp on, for sure,'' he said.

Long says Hawkins and the pottery will do fine as long as the business holds onto its unique niche.

``You don't want to have someone come down from New Jersey,'' he said, ``and find something that they could have had at home for the same price.''

by CNB