Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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“Daddy just decided that we were not farmers and we were not produce growers,” Jimmy Todd remembered.
The Todds decided to move near High Point, where Joseph Todd, Curtis and Theola Todd’s adult son lived, and go into the seafood business.
“I think I can do something for the people of Thomasville,” Jimmy Todd remembered his father saying.
Curtis, Theola and Jimmy Todd started Todd’s Seafood Inc. on Jan. 18, 1958. Friday, the company celebrated its 50th anniversary.
“Thomasville and the surrounding communities have been good to us,” said Jimmy Todd, who has been running the company since he was in his early 20s. He credited the longevity of Todd’s Seafood to “honesty and hard work.”
Todd’s Seafood Market started out as strictly a retail operation. Restaurant operators around town talked the Todds into branching out into wholesale.
“The restaurants here in Thomasville came to us and asked us if we would dress fish for them because they didn’t have anyone who could do that,” Jimmy Todd remembered.
Thus began Todd’s Seafood’s wholesale business about 40 years ago. The Todds must have been doing something right because the company’s group of satisfied restaurant customers grew to surrounding municipalities, surrounding counties and eventually to surrounding states. The wholesale end of the business now supplies restaurants to establishments in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia. The five refrigerated trucks go as far as 250 miles from the Todd’s location at 624 National Highway to deliver the company’s product to a wholesale customer.
Although Curtis and Theola Todd turned the leadership of the company over to Jimmy Todd in the early 1960s, they both remained active with the company for the rest of their lives. Curtis died in 1987 and Theola died in 1991. In the early 1970s Jimmy Todd’s sister and her husband joined the company and worked there about 20 years. Jimmy got married in 1961. His wife, Jean Todd, spent her career as a teacher at Hasty Elementary School, but would also work for Todd’s Seafood after school and on Saturdays. After retiring from the Davidson County School system, Jean Todd has gone to work for the family business full time. Also, Jean and Jimmy Todd’s sons all worked for the family business in their youth.
“I never asked my boys to be in the business,” Jimmy Todd said. “They can do whatever they want with their life. If they want to join the business, there is a place here for them.”
Brantley Todd, the youngest son still works for Todd’s Seafood. He calls himself “the head gopher,” but is involved with all facets of operating the business and has taken a keen interest in managing the fleet of trucks. By looking at them, both inside and out, it’s easy to see that Brantley agrees with Jimmy, who says “Cleanliness in next to godliness.”
Shawn Todd, the oldest son teaches and coaches at Ledford Middle School. Tristan Todd, the second oldest son, is a salesman out of Long Beach, Calif.
The company made local news shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in late August of 2005. The Todd’s made several trips to Biloxi, Miss., delivering supplies to some of their business associates and others who had lost all of their possessions as a result of the flooding.
With the attention the wholesale end of the business has gotten, Todd’s Seafood Market is sometimes overlooked.
“I had a call just today from someone who asked if we still were open to the public,” Jimmy Todd said on Friday, the day Todd’s Seafood Market turned 50 years old.
The retail market is open Tuesday through Saturday. It attracts not only Thomasville people, but also customers from High Point, Greensboro and other locations in the region. Other than Jimmy Todd, who has been in the business every day of these past 50 years, the longest tenured employee is Lula Pemberton, who works in the retail market and has been there for 31 years.
Jimmy Todd feels that his business has been successful because he has “treated people the way they want to be treated.”
“I’m proud to have been in business for 50 years,” Jimmy Todd said. “More than that, I’m thankful to have been in business for so long. I thank God every day for leading us here to Thomasville.”
Staff Writer Kevin Reid can be reached at 472-9500, ext 230, or reid@tvilletimes.com.