The Women behind Hudsons Seafood Co
Carrying On
In all developed countries and most undeveloped ones, women
outlive men, sometimes by a margin of 10 years. While physicians
and scientists parse theories on the subject, perhaps it is a matter
of divine providence: God knows women can carry on.
That's exactly what the Hudson women did in 1997 when Hilton
Head Island seafood mogul, Benny Hudson, Jr. passed away. Prior
to Benny's death, his wife, Barbara and daughter, Tonya Hudson-
DeSalve, were busy running a flourishing interior design business
and 10,000-square-foot furniture showroom. "When my parents
sold the restaurant (Hudson's Seafood Restaurant), Dad wanted to
run the docks and wanted us to have something else to do," said
Tonya. 'You go do your pillows and bedspreads and leave me to do
all this,' he said."
That was fine until the ground shifted under their feet. Left to
run the whole show with less than a month before shrimping season,
the women didn't miss a beat. Tonya and her husband (who had
only been married six months) moved in with Barbara, and for the
next two years, they all did what they had to do. "We had to get it in
gear," said Tonya who ran the furniture store while her mom took
care of the seafood business. "During the day, I was in my hose
and heels, and at night, I would put my shrimp boots on and we'd
come down here and unload boats," she said. "We did thousands
of pounds a day. We were unloading shrimp in the evening and
loading semi-trucks in the wee hours of the morning."
Both the furniture business and the seafood business continued
to thrive, but the women were admittedly growing weary. "We
couldn't continue to do it. We were physically, mentally and
financially spread too thin," Tonya said. So they sold the furniture
business, and Tonya went to work full-time in the seafood business
alongside her mom and grandmom, Hilda Brannen. Barbara
handled the wholesale while Tonya operated the retail division. It
was Hilda's job to go down to the docks, count the boxes and write
the tickets.
The family has since streamlined the business, doing away with
the wholesale division and turning the reins over to Tonya. "It
is time for me to live my life," said Barbara, who is semi-retired.
"I still make deviled crab or put her spices together or watch her
child," she said. "I'm like a backup for whatever she needs." At age
84, Hilda can no longer get down to the docks to count shrimp, but
she makes the deposits.
When school is out, Tonya's daughter, Hannah, age eight, greets
customers, peels shrimp and works the cash register. In the tradition
of entrepreneurship, this summer, she will operate a lemonade stand
on the premises, offering a percentage of the profits to charity.
Barbara attributes the continued success of the company to
her dedicated family, the loyal shrimpers and the high standards
her husband set. "The guys at my dock are here because I choose
for them to be here. They are God-fearing, good men. They are
trustworthy and they take pride in what they do," she said.
"Tonya has been taught Southern hospitality and all of those
things it takes to make a business work," she continued. Customer
service is always what we've been about. It's a legacy. We've been
here a long time, and we don't plan on going anywhere. We have
an obligation to ourselves to do it right."