THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407190158
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: EARNING A LIVING IN VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
AT 13, GEARY CRIST was already a well-known crabber. At dawn every morning he would motor his little johnboat out to the Lynnhaven Inlet to empty his crab pots and sell his catch to area markets before heading off for school.
He made his spending money that way for about six years.
At 19, he still rises before dawn to crab. But now Crist doesn't have to worry about finding someone to buy the crabs. He sells them in his own market, Geary's Seafood, on Shore Drive.
``My days were definitely preoccupied,'' said Crist, a lanky teen who chain-smokes Marlboros. ``It's the same as now. I work 20 hours a day, but it's always worth it when you own your own business.''
Crist opened his seafood market in May. He spent about six months working on leasing a building on Shore Drive near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel entrance and putting together a business plan. He even gave up his bachelor quarters to move back in with his parents to save money.
``I saw 7-Eleven close, tracked down the owners and presented them my business plan,'' Crist said. ``They accepted my offer.''
He and his fiancee, Marie Hazlet, are the only employees. She works at the store in the morning, while Crist crabs.
``People are not catching as many crabs this year as last,'' Crist said. ``The season has really been slow.'' He is hauling in only 5 to 10 bushels of crabs a day to sell at his store now. In the past he could top 20 on a good day.
``I liked it then (six years ago). It was more fun. Now it's a job. Although I still enjoy what I do, both crabbing and retail.''
He doesn't only sell crabs, although they're the biggest seller, he said.
The store stocks bait (bloodworms, squid, minnows and shrimp) from $2 to $4, as well as shrimp, clams, oysters, tuna, swordfish, scallops, crabmeat, spot, croaker, bluefish, trout, salmon, flounder, catfish, lobster and more.
He'll even cook some of his wares. He steams shrimp or crabs for 50 cents a pound or 50 cents a dozen.
A good deal of his business comes from take-out orders from folks around the neighborhood.
Just before last year's crab season ended, Crist said, he hit a temporary low because the market was saturated with crabs. He began selling bushels of female and jimmie crabs right off his boat moored at the inlet.
He usually sold 10 to 15 bushels off the boat daily. Those left over were sold to local seafood markets.
Selling off his boat was a new way of business for Crist. Usually, he dealt with restaurants and markets, and not directly with customers. Dealing with businesses directly gave him the chance to learn how to run a seafood market, what the demand was like for fresh seafood and even how to prepare the food. When he began selling to customers directly from his boat, he decided that maybe retail was the way to go.
``I'd always taken it (crabbing) seriously,'' said Crist, a 1993 Cox High School graduate. ``But I hadn't really broadened myself to other avenues.''
When Crist saw what he calls his ideal location - a busy road near the water and his boat - he decided to go for it.
He borrowed about $25,000 from friends to start the business. He had to buy a sign, buy his seafood stock and hire an accountant. Because the building already had refrigeration space, he didn't have to invest in big freezers.
Any problems that Crist encountered while starting the business, he dealt with by calling friends in the restaurant business for advice. He learned how to do a business plan from a book at the library.
He hopes to one day open a restaurant because, he said, he ``loves to cook.''
He and his fiancee hope to be married next August when, Crist says, ``I hope this'll be my livelihood and I hope it'll support a family.
``We've been doing well since we opened, and it's looking like it's going to do good.'' MEMO: The phone number for Geary's Seafood is 363-9669. The address is 4461
Shore Drive.The phone number for Geary's Seafood is 363-9669. The
address is 4461 Shore Drive.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
In a former 7-Eleven in the 4400 block of Shore Drive, Geary Crist,
19, has turned seafood catching into seafood marketing - Geary's
Seafood.
In addition to a large variety of bait, fish and shellfish, Geary
Crist and his fiancee, Marie Hazlet, sell gift baskets put together
by Geary's mother, Brenda.
by CNB