'They knew they had to do something different'
Cars and trucks crowd Miss Gina’s roadside stand. People line up to fill coolers with fresh, wild-caught shrimp, but Miss Gina's has a deeper story of survival.
Miss Gina’s shrimp stand near Beaufort, N.C., consists of a tiny building called “Cam’s Shack,” right next to a weighing station and cooler, all bedecked with signs and flags.
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“Our nine-year old son Cameron loves working the stand,” Monica Smith said. “He gives people ice, takes their money.” Monica sells shrimp that her husband, Thomas Smith, and father-in-law, Allen Smith, harvest in Core Sound, Pamlico Sound, Adams Creek, and the Atlantic Ocean.
The family business has grown in popularity since the roadside stand was started in the mid 2000s. “Thomas and his father had been selling to the fish house, but because of the flood of imported shrimp at that time, the price for domestic shrimp fell dramatically,” Monica reflected. “They knew they had to do something different...” Find out what happened
