Family Values
For two Ohio brothers, the meat business is only one facet of life
by Ken Krizner, senior editor
The customer had shopped at Marshallville Packing Co. for 25 years. He always talked to Frank P. Tucker, the founder and owner of the Northeast Ohio retail meat store.
Tucker would be at the door to say hello-and to point the customer in the direction of a good purchase.
About a year ago, the customer realized he hadn't seen Tucker in the store for some time. Curious, he inquired with Tucker's son, Terry.
Unbeknownst to the customer, Tucker died in September 1993 at age 79.
"When I told him, he just broke down and cried," Terry says. "You develop that kind of relationship with customers over the years. You treat them like they are part of the family and they will keep coming back."
Based on business, Marshallville Packing Co. has a large and loyal family. One would think that its location in the small farming community of Marshallville, Ohio (population 900), about 15 minutes from the nearest freeway exit, would keep the customer base to a minimum.
Think again.
Marshallville is accessible to the major population centers-Cleveland (40 miles), Akron (15 miles) and Canton (30 miles)-of the region. And despite living in a world of super retail centers, 10,000 people from a 150-mile radius each month come to Marshallville Packing to buy their fresh, smoked and lunch meat products.
The company is run by the two sons of Frank Tucker, Terry and John, who also own and operate Tucker Packing Co., a slaughterer of beef, hogs and lambs in nearby Orville, Ohio.
Marshallville Packing uses only locally-raised beef, pork, poultry and veal for its products. It ages its beef from seven to 10 days prior to cutting to ensure flavor. And there are custom-cut items that customers can take home and use immediately without further handling.
Fifty employees work in the retail store, which is run by John, and the slaughtering plant, managed by Terry. Their 81-year-old mother, Jeanette, still puts some hours in at the store.
Marshallville's tactic to combat the super retail store mentality that dominates purchasing habits is quality. If people are to travel to Marshallville to buy a product, it had better be a quality product with quality service.
Frank Tucker began a tradition of excellence in providing superior products at competitive prices. His recipes for fresh sausages and lunch meats were developed by a German master sausage-maker. The tradition has been handed down to his two sons.
Quality service means getting to know your customers.
"You never have to ask for criticism," John cautions. "You are always guided by customer comments. And they won't offer comments unless you get to know them."
Around the world and back home
Both John, 50, and Terry, 45, saw their share of the world before deciding to follow in their father's footsteps.
Frank Tucker began a wholesale route in 1960, selling fresh meat and luncheon meat in the Akron-Canton area, and leasing a slaughter plant in Clinton, Ohio. Both John and Terry went to work when the business began.
"I was able to cut a side of beef before I was out of high school," John points out.
"When we were younger, we were cleaning the coolers and watching how the sausage was made," Terry adds.
As the years passed, the wholesale businesses evolved into a retail business. In 1973, the elder Tucker began the slaughtering operation. A wholesale route, basically within 30 miles of Marshallville, remains part of the business.
Both brothers went to Bowling Green State University in western Ohio, and both went into the U.S. Army.
John served a tour of duty with the Army Rangers during the Vietnam War. Terry was commissioned an officer in 1971 and received a master's degree in business management while stationed in West Germany.
John returned to the family business in 1971 and Terry followed in 1975. The brothers went to work learning every facet of the business, from the bottom up. Both have worked nearly every job there is in the retail store and in the slaughtering plant.
The experience became invaluable as John and Terry began running the day-to-day operations.
"There is no question that knowing how to do what you are directing people to do has its distinct advantages," Terry stresses. "You have to temper that experience because sometimes you think you know best.
"Hopefully, you give your employees guidance that not only makes them better employees, but better people. Without knowing the business from the bottom up, it is impossible to do that."
John says he and his brother have also benefited from an experience that he believes is lost on today's generation.
"We have the advantage of being products of a rural farm family," he notes. "Our parents went through the [Great Depression], World War II and started a business without any money.
"The motivation and guidance were completely different than what we give our children and employees," John adds. "For our father, this business was a necessity: He had a family to feed. We cannot relate that to our employees. They have no idea of what we are talking about."
John points out that a person can take as many educational classes as possible, but nothing beats hands-on experience.
And both brothers are grateful for the opportunity to work outside the business "because of the range of people you encounter, and the job and responsibilities you have," according to Terry.
Living and working in a small community, John and Terry believe it is imperative to get involved in the community. John has been a member of the Green Local Schools Board of Education for 15 years and Terry is involved in his church.
How does all of this help run a small-sized meat company?
"The experiences we went through keep us from getting tunnel vision," Terry says.
John stresses: "We have a different perspective. We are more tolerant when things are not done immediately and more tolerant of the bureaucracy you encounter, not only in business but in life."
The future
John has five children, ranging from age 14 to 21, and Terry has two sons, ages 18 and 9.
Currently, only John's son, Jim, has a hand in the business, working at the slaughtering plant.
The brothers agree that it is too early to tell if a third generation will one day run Marshallville Packing and Tucker Packing. One thing is for sure, the fathers want their children to get different perspectives before deciding if they want to work in the family business.
Being second-generation owners of the business was a source of pride for their father, according to John.
"In his own sweet self he felt good," John notes. "Anyone who works with farmers or in the meat business knows it is a difficult business. Our father did not come up to us everyday and say, 'I'm glad you're back,' and praise us for everything we did.
"But in his later years, he was proud of our academic and military accomplishments," he adds. "And he was proud that we decided to come back and work in the business."