State

Their Job ... Running Errands Jack and Hilda Hardin havi* been doing И for eight years in and around Charlotte and have established a prosperous and in¬ teresting business as a result. WHEN Jack Hardin and his wife. Hilda, started an er¬ rand service in Charlotte eight years ago their friends shook their heads and decided that the young couple had gone slightly ioco." There was no precedent in these parts for such a business. The nearest thing approaching it was a rather half-hearted errand serv¬ ice maintained by some telegraph offices to occupy messenger boys in their spare time. The Hardins were making it a full-time business and offered to run errands of most any description. The idea paid off. Today this unique service — believed to be the only one of its type in the State — performs so many chores that many Charlotte business shops and housewives wouldn’t know how to get along without it. Errand Serv¬ ice. as the firm is called, used bi¬ cycles. motorcycles, motor scoot¬ ers, and even trucks to comply with the hundreds of calls received daily. All Sorts of Calls During a sudden downpour of rain, mothers will call Errand Service and have them pick up raincoats and carry them to school for little Mary and Johnny. . . . The firm is frequently asked to pick up wreaths from a florist shop and place them on certain graves. . . . Puppies, young rabbits, bid¬ dies, and baby ducks are among the animated deliveries made. . . . And around the latter part of Decem¬ ber the errand vehicles look like moving forests with their Christ¬ mas tree deliveries. . . . Errand Service even plays Santa Claus, delivering toys and other pack¬ ages to homes after little Junior has gone to bed. The largest number of requests, however, come from firms and in¬ dividuals who want their mail Kked up from the postoflice or ve packages delivered. Most of the clientele is steady and the pa¬ trons are billed at the end of the month. However, there are several "new calls" each day and in these cases the client pays the errand boy who turns it over to his em- Hi; GEORGE BUTLER plovers. The fee may be as low as 25 cents - for simple errands within six blocks of the city square — or may run up to several dollars for bulky packages transported some distance. The errand boys are bright-eyed lads about 17 or 18 and, according to Mrs. Hardin, "would probably work free for a few weeks, if we asked them to. just to be able to ride the motor scooter.” The youths are paid a straight salary, unless they furnish their own transpor¬ tation; in that case, they also get a commission. The “alumni" of Er¬ rand Service includes war veterans who were decorated for bravery and several prosperous young business men. Started in 1939 Jack Hardin got the idea for his errand service back in 1939 when he was employed by a motor parts firm. The company had so much trouble getting parts delivered that Jack decided an efficient errand agency was needed in the city. He talked it over with his wife and found that she cottoned to the idea. Jack then resigned his job, after first getting a promise from the mo¬ tor parts firm to handle all of its errands. SEE ASHEVILLE and Western Carolina's charming beauty during June. "The Rhododendron Month" Rest and Relax at Princess Anne Hotel W. Dovid Turner, Prop. & Mgr. Asheville, N. C. Write, Plume or Wire for Retervallon*. UluMriitrd folder and rates by day. week or all teaton on requot. The idea caught the public’s fancy almost immediately and the Hardins soon found themselves performing all kind of chores, most of which had never even occurred to them when they embarked on the venture. The war came along. Jack went into the Army and Hilda had to manage the young business alone. "It was full of headaches," she declares, "what with shortages of gas, tires, labor, and equipment. . . . But we managed somehow and the business grew larger than ever before." Jack returned; a Purple Heart veteran after three years overseas, in which he participated in General Patton’s spectacular dash across France and Germany. "And he hasn’t had much chance to slow down since," says Hil¬ da. "He’s kept busy dashing all over Charlotte and Mecklenburg County." Hilda read off a list of their best customers. It included newspapers, radio stations, airlines, office sup¬ ply houses, paint stores, telephone companies. X-ray laboratories, de¬ partment stores — in fact, about every line of business you can think of. Calls Front Bootleggers They have even been approached by bootleggers to deliver their bev¬ erages but. of course, refused the offer. "It’s not a seasonal job, this er¬ rand service," say the Hardins. They’ve discovered that seasons quiet for some trades are the busi¬ est periods for others; and since Errand Service draws its patrons from a good cross-section of indus¬ try, its owners have no worry about slack seasons. Of course, holi¬ days bring a bigger rush than at other times. The Hardins claim no monopo¬ ly on the errand service idea and will give helpful advice to per¬ sons, especially veterans, who might want to start a similar serv¬ ice in other cities in the State. “They better not go into it. how¬ ever, if they dislike detail and aren’t willing to put up with a lot of business headaches," they cau¬ tion. THE STATE. June 14. 1947