State

Part of the licet of trucks operated by Poole’s, of Durham A New Business Is Born Frozen Foods started out in a small way ahout two years ago. Since then, it lias grown tremendously and is being' operated along' extensive lines. IT was in Durham early in May, 1946 and old Sam was on his way to work when Percy Poole, driv¬ ing a used pick-up truck with a small frozen food cabinet on the back, passed him. Poole had. a short time before, opened a retail frozen food store and was handling a few freezing units on the side. Supplies were next to impossible to get, but Poole wasn’t waiting, so he was off to bring back a few cases of frozen food. Old Sam slowly turned around and watched the truck as it rounded the curve and muttered, ‘‘Dat man have loss his mine, he won’t never git no place dat away." Poole and his assistant. Paul White¬ hurst, were struggling with an un¬ familiar business, just after the war scarcities, and with a public which was a bit dubious of an in¬ dustry that was comparatively new in the southeast. About that same time in Greens¬ boro, Johnny Balderacchi w a s peddling chickens from two open poultry trucks. The war was over and his contracts with the govern¬ ment were fast fading out, so while he worked on the dwindling poul¬ try business he sold a few cases of frozen food. A little later on, in the early fall, three men in Fayetteville, С. P. Poole and Clyde and Carl Barring¬ ton organized the Frozen Food and Equipment Company selling a few Deep-freeze units and trying to supply food to the customers who bought the units. In those days these boys would bring back extra cases of food when they went to THE STATE. February 28. 1948 the distributors for it; they did this as a courtesy to their friends who were also in the retail busi¬ ness. Business grew, demands in¬ creased and out of a need that was quickly recognized by these men the Frozen Food Industries о f North Carolina was born with Johnny Balderacchi a s General Manager and Purhasing Agent and the Home Office at 407 East Mar¬ ket Street in Greensboro. In less than two years the pic¬ ture changes. Poole’s Frozen Foods Company of Durham, with Paul D. Whitehurst as General Manager now boasts of a fleet of eleven pieces of equipment which includes insulated refrigerated trucks, insti¬ tutional delivery trucks and sales¬ men and advertising cars, all paint¬ ed a bright goldenrod color featur¬ ing the company name and prod¬ ucts. Plans are being formulated to open a branch of Poole’s Frozen Foods in Rocky Mount early this year. This company covers all of eastern North Carolina and a small part of southern Virginia. Balderacchi, operating under the name of Greensboro Poultry and Frozen Food Company now has three complete distributing points; Asheville, Greensboro, and Char¬ lotte; serving western North Car¬ olina and northern South Carolina. He has eleven pieces of equipment all painted a royal blue and in¬ scribed with the company’s name and product. Frozen Foods and Equipment Company now have their general office in Columbia, S. C. with Clyde Barrington in charge. They oper¬ ate branches in Fayetteville and in Dillon, S. C. and cover the south¬ ern part of North Carolina and the remaining part of South Carolina. They have ten pieces of rolling equipment painted a light blue color displaying proper advertis¬ ing. Since these three distributors have organized and trade as the Frozen Food Industries of North Carolina their business will top the two million dollar mark this year. In less than two years the com¬ pany has become one of the largest wholesale distributors in North and South Carolina. Two refrigerator tractor trailers, hauling supplies solely to their seven branches, give year-round and clock-round serv¬ ice. Back to Durham now. As the big goldenrod refrigerator truck stops at the rear of Poole’s, old Sam. on his way home tips his hat and with a twinkle in his eyes mutters to himself "I knowed that man Poole had a good idea, yas, suh, I could a tole you all de time." Until 1791 there was a county in the state called Dobbs, in honor of Arthur Dobbs, Royal Governor in 1754. In 1791 Dobbs County was divided into Lenoir and Glas¬ gow counties, and in 1799 the name of Greene was given to that of Glasgow. The name. Greene, was in honor of General Nathanael Greene, famed Revolutionary Gen¬ eral. 9