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From bagboy to owner

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Photo By State Journal/Hilly SchifferDavid Hinson, a customer at Bryant’s Pic-Pac, talks with owner Danny Bryant near the meat department.

Photo By State Journal/Hilly SchifferDanny wraps meat to be sold at Pic-Pac.

Danny Bryant, 51, was born, raised and educated within a few blocks of the grocery store he owns in South Frankfort.

“My whole life has been encompassed by three or four blocks,” he says.

A grocery store has been at the Pic-Pac location since 1953, and the business remains an anchor of the South Frankfort neighborhood.

Many shoppers are familiar faces, Danny says.

“You can almost set your watch by the time they come in,” he says.

Customers come from all walks of life – attorneys, doctors, ministers, laborers and students. Danny greets them with a smile and a friendly welcome.

“Over the years, I’ve met so many people,” Danny said. “It keeps the job interesting. It’s never the same two days in a row.”

As owner, Danny is a jack-of-all-trades – cutting meat, stocking shelves and unloading produce. He works six days and about 60-70 hours a week.

“People think if you own your own business you don’t have to work,” Danny said. “You can forget about not working holidays and weekends.”

His least favorite part of the job is policing the store and confronting shoplifters. The long hours leave little time for recreation, but Danny says he enjoys hunting on the rare occasion.

He was born in the old King’s Daughters Memorial Hospital behind Pic-Pac and lived nearby on East Main Street. Danny walked past the grocery, then an A&P store, every day for eight years on his way to Second Street School, but never went in alone.

“Mom and dad said to stay out of stores on the way to school,” Danny said.

He went to Frankfort High School for four years and got a part-time job as a bagboy after graduation. From there he became a stocker and worked his way up through the ranks. The A&P closed in 1982 and was operated by two independent owners before Danny took over in 1998.

Although there are bigger competitors like Walmart and Kroger in town, Danny said the store has succeeded by focusing on the downtown neighborhood. The sales portion of Pic-Pac covers about 11,000 square feet – corporate stores sometimes have up to 100,000 square feet.

“They could squash us like a bug,” he said.

Independent stores, like Bryant’s Pic-Pac, are “few and far between,” Danny said. They also lack the buying power of larger retailers.

He also credited the store’s success to his 23 employees, some of whom have been there 20 years or more. Pic-Pac is also a family affair - Danny’s wife and children work there.

In addition to work, the employees also like to joke - one said it’s like a sitcom. There’s also a sign taped to one door leading to the back that reads “Copacabana Room.”

“We’re all one big happy family,” he said. “We like to joke.”

Danny supports a number of community and charity efforts in small ways whether it’s $25 to help the Frankfort High School buy running shoes or a few hours of labor donated to the Relay for Life.

“I get five or six calls a day,” he said. “We try to help wherever we can.”

However, one of the most unusual displays of compassion was during the January ice storm. Power was out, the registers didn’t work and people were scared, Danny said.

“It’s one of the few times in my career when people were really looking for help,” he said. “They were afraid of what was going to happen.”

So, with pen and paper, Danny tallied their totals and let people pay later. He said every person returned and paid the bill.

Danny said he plans to continue working and hopes to renovate the store in the next four or five years. The store hasn’t been updated since 1987, aside from routine maintenance and painting. Danny said he’d like to put in a new floor and shelves.

Although he’s been in the grocery business for 33 years, Danny has only owned the store for 11. He said he plans to keep going because he loves his job.

“I’m lucky I can say that,” Danny said.