THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 22, 1996 TAG: 9603200205
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
GAS WAS 19.9 CENTS a gallon except when gas wars forced it as low as 15.9 cents. A Coca Cola was 5 cents, and for another nickel you could get a candy bar or a pack of Nabs, even a Moon Pie. Cigarettes were about 20 cents a pack.
And for less than $5, you could get an oil change and a lube job, too.
That's the way it was 40 years ago when George Dodd took over a Texaco service station on a two-lane road called Old Suffolk Boulevard - now a four-lane city street known as Portsmouth Boulevard. City buses stopped every 30 minutes and Trailways coaches passed all day long.
Not only have Portsmouth and the world changed since 1956, Dodd's business has evolved to become one of three major dealerships in Hampton Roads for recreational vehicles.
``It's hard to put numbers that mean anything on the growth of the business,'' Dodd says. ``We sell such big-ticket items now. And back when we started, a big ticket was a used car for $595.''
Some elaborate RVs on the Dodd lot sell for up to $60,000.
He says his business now takes in around $1 million annually. He might have grossed $50,000 in 1956.
From pumping gas, the station's auto repair business grew, and Dodd's long-time hobby of buying and selling used cars kept the business growing - to the point that in 1967 he bought a second service station across the street from his original site and moved his auto sales there.
And he built a new and better service garage.
Then, in 1972, Dodd branched into RV sales, selling motor homes and travel trailers.
Now, he says, his is one of only four RV dealers in all of Hampton Roads. The others are in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Newport News.
Dodd's firm has five franchises: Terry, Mallard, Citation, Chateau and Georgie Boy. These vehicles range in size from 17 feet to 40 feet and sell for between $8,000 and $60,000.
``Franchises for these are like franchises for automobiles,'' says Jamie Dodd, one of George Dodd's sons. ``They do it by population, so you're only going to have so many.''
In 1983, George Dodd built a special RV service center with a ``complete'' repair shop, he says.
He phased out of gasoline sales in 1976 after shortages that pushed gas up over a dollar a gallon. About that time, a lot of convenience stores began to install gas pumps.
``We couldn't compete with the convenience stores and company-owned stations,'' Dodd says.
The RV sales have not always been up. The same gasoline crunch in 1973 hit hard.
``You couldn't give them away then,'' Dodd says.
Then there was another gas shortage in 1980, and interest rates also began to climb. That also hurt RV and boat sales.
Sales gradually picked up, though, and have been going up ever since. Dodd has added more land to his holdings, on both sides of Portsmouth Boulevard in the 4700 block.
His customers come from all over Southeastern Virginia and North Carolina.
``My daddy says it's the people not the place that attract customers,'' Jamie Dodd says.
His father's office is lined with trophies from Fleetwood, the largest RV manufacturer in the world and owner of a dozen of the biggest trademarks, including Mallard and Terry. Dealers are graded by their customers, and about 3 percent of them receive Circle of Excellence trophies. Dodd has been in that group for the past four years.
Much of the Dodd business success has to do with consistent service, Jamie Dodd says.
When his father took over the gas station 40 years ago, he asked Bobby Branch and Billy Boyd to come to work with him. They did, and they've been there ever since.
``I came here to work until I got a call from the Navy yard to go to work there in the spring,'' Branch says. ``Instead I stayed on here, and I don't really regret it.''
A third long-time employee, Robert Shea, joined the team in 1962.
Now George's three children are moving into the business: Paul, 29, in service; Jamie, 25, in sales; and Susie, 24, in accounting.
``We worked here growing up on Saturdays and holidays and in the summer,'' Susie says. ``It was a place for us to play, and we still play. We don't consider it work.''
But, Jamie says, their dad ``looks forward to going to work, too.
``His customers are his friends.''
The children are especially proud of the company. Susie explains how their business keeps growing: ``Word of mouth brings people here.''
George Dodd was 15 when his family moved to Portsmouth in 1944 and his father went to work at the Naval Shipyard. They lived not too far from where his business operates today, and he graduated from Wilson High in 1947. He started college, joined the Navy before he was drafted during the Korean War and then returned to attend classes at the College of William and Mary's campus in Norfolk, now Old Dominion University.
``When I went into business out here, everything was in downtown Portsmouth,'' he recalls. ``I remember somebody asking me how I was going to make a living.''
As it turned out, other businesses - including Wayside Cleaners, which is still there - also were attracted to the spot. The little business area included Rodman's Grocery Store and Sykes Confectionery. The original Bones and Buddies barbecue and the White Rabbit, a place for beer and burgers, were a few blocks away at Alexanders Corner.
Dodd's has been a hangout for a bunch of retired guys from the day it opened, George Dodd says.
``Some came in and played checkers every day right on up into the 1970s. Some would even help us out when it got busy.''
The faces have changed, but there still are friends who stop to chat. And young Jamie says he doesn't expect that to change. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
George Dodd, from left, sons Jamie and Paul and daughter Susie
Jordan operate an RV business and a service center on Portsmouth
Boulevard. In the background are Bobby Branch, Frankie Leigh, Robert
Shea and W.M. Boyd.
Dodd started out with a Texaco station on Old Suffolk Boulevard.
by CNB