DATE: Monday, July 7, 1997                  TAG: 9707050075
SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: SMALL BUSINESS Q & A 

SOURCE: BY MELISSA GUNDEL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

SERVING UP FRIED CHICKEN FOR 30 YEARS IS A FAMILY AFFAIR

When Betty and Clyde Pollard Jr. started a catering business 30 years ago, their four children pitched in to help. These days, the four siblings - minus Bobby Pollard who left three years ago to become a minister - supervise 150 employees, run the catering business and own seven restaurants, famed for their fried chicken and barbeque. Two new restaurants recently opened at Norfolk's Waterside Festival Marketplace and Ocean Breeze Fun Park in Virginia Beach. Sisters Betty Ann Gravely and Peggy Pollard are vice presidents. Johnny Pollard, 53, became president when his brother stepped down.

When did you open at Ocean Breeze and Waterside?

We opened our location at Ocean Breeze this summer. We have things we don't carry at our other restaurants. We have fruit smoothies, which are similar to a slurpee with all natural fruit juices, funnel cakes and large soft pretzels. We have all of our chicken products and barbecue. We also have a little cart where we sell Hawaiian shaved ice. Pollards does all catered functions at the park. We opened up at Waterside at the end of March. That's been a real big hit.

When did you open the first Pollards restaurant?

We opened our first restaurant in February of 1967. My mother had already been doing a lot of catering. She wanted a kitchen so she could prepare more food. We came across a restaurant on E. Little Creek Road and that's how we got started.

What hardships have you seen?

One was years ago when they had a price freeze. Chicken prices didn't have a freeze on them, but the beef and pork did. We couldn't raise our prices enough to cover our cost increase. The price of chicken skyrocketed and we lost thousands of dollars in a couple of months. Another instance was in 1990 during Desert Storm plus the recession. In Tidewater, a lot of the military families left the area, people were tightening up their purses because they were afraid of the economy. . . . a lot of them didn't eat out as much.

What do you enjoy most about the restaurant business?

I enjoy serving people good food and seeing them become regular customers. We don't have very much turnover in our employment.

How are you different than your competitors?

We have a nice variety of food in our restaurants. Also, a national competitor might not be able to handle a large quantity like 500 pieces of chicken. Our restaurants are used to that. We have a mobile trailer with gas fryers and can go to off premise places to cook. By having multiple restaurants we are able to shuttle our products to the different restaurants and absorb it if a large function is canceled due to rain. Our chicken items are fresh and we get them as often as six days a week. We stress keeping our shortening filtered frequently. If you don't the food can get greasy, the shortening will burn and it doesn't taste as fresh. We have always used a pure vegetable oil.

What advice would you offer for someone going into the restaurant business?

It's easy for people to look through rose colored glasses when buying a franchise from a national chain. It's not as easy as it seems. Not too many years ago, yogurt places were going up everywhere. Once they got a franchise, many of them couldn't make their expenses because of lack of experience during the off months. Also try to research it as much as possible and be very cautious. You not only have to have a good product, you must have a good location. MEMO: If you have an idea or know of anyone in the business community

who would make an interesting business profile, please fax your ideas to

Melissa Gundel at 446-2531. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

CHARLIE MEADS

The Virginian-Pilot

Johnny Pollard... KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu