Randy and Brian Pack expand on family legacy with the purchase of Decoys Seafood, River Stone Chophouse and Vintage Tavern
By Chelsea Sherman
For Randy and Brian Pack, hospitality runs in the family. Their parents Ron and Tina Pack opened Smithfield Station in 1986, transforming the relatively quiet Smithfield waterfront into a destination for visitors to dock, dine and stay the night. Brian and Randy both worked at the business growing up, but neither of them expected to make a career of it.
“After college, I was working up in Syracuse, New York,” Randy recalls. “I’d been there for two years when my dad called and said, ‘Your mom and I think we’re going to sell the business.’ We had what felt like 200 inches of snow on the ground, and I realized I was ready to go back home. I came back six months after that conversation.”
That was in 2001. Two years later, Brian followed suit, leaving his role at Ferguson Enterprises to join his brother at Smithfield Station.
Although the brothers were still in their early 20s at the time, they had grown up helping their parents run Smithfield Station, and both had gone to college for business. When they heard their parents would be selling the business, Brian and Randy knew right away they did not want to see Smithfield Station change hands.
“When we took over in the early 2000s, we looked around Smithfield and saw several family businesses that had failed in the second or third generation, and we knew we couldn’t afford to do that,” Randy says. “We made it a point to interact both professionally and socially with one another from the beginning. We have our differences, but our skills really complement each other and our partnership is an enjoyable relationship.”
In 2007, the Pack brothers undertook a major expansion for Smithfield Station, doubling the number of hotel rooms and expanding the marina. What began as a 15-room inn and restaurant had now grown into a full-blown destination with the addition of the Smithfield Station Lodge and Shops.
The expansion kept the brothers busy throughout the following years, especially as both began to settle down and start their families. But by 2012, they found themselves seeking growth once again.
“We knew we wanted to add to our portfolio, but we had looked at a lot of locations in the region and hadn’t found anything that seemed like the right fit,” Randy says.
Then in 2018, Surry County approached the Packs about taking over Surry Seafood Company. Skeptical at first, the brothers agreed to take a look at the project and realized it was a perfect for them.
“With a 150-seat restaurant, a boutique hotel and a marina, it ended up fitting our model really well,” Randy says.
The brothers got to work quickly—promoting several of their existing employees to management positions at the new venture, revamping the boutique hotel rooms, upgrading the restaurant, and adding 45 new floating slips to the marina.
With the addition of Surry Seafood Co., Brian and Randy officially created Pack Brothers Hospitality. And it wouldn’t be long before they branched out again. In 2021, the Pack Brothers announced plans for 37 North at Fort Monroe in Hampton. The project comprises an upgrade of the existing marina, along with the addition of a conference center, 90-room boutique hotel and 500-seat seafood restaurant.
While progress is underway for 37 North, the grand opening is still a few years out. In the meantime, the Pack Brothers have continued to keep themselves busy—most recently, with the purchase of three well loved restaurants in Suffolk from M&M Hospitality. The brothers are thrilled to put their signature spin on Decoys Seafood, River Stone Chophouse and Vintage Tavern.
“We’ve loved these restaurants for a long time. Honestly, we’ve had our eyes on them since the day they opened,” Randy says. “When we had the opportunity to purchase them, it took us about three minutes to say yes.”
With 60 boat slips on the Bennett’s Creek Marina and four boutique hotel rooms, Decoys is similar to the Pack Brothers’ other properties, and they’ve been hard at work giving it their magic touch. The restaurant now boasts a brand-new menu and additional staff, and is better primed to serve the crowds drawn by its optimal waterfront location.
Vintage Tavern and River Stone Chophouse are both fine dining establishments, bringing the Packs a welcome new challenge.
“Fine dining is something we’ve always wanted to do,” Brian says. “We know how to run a business, and we know how to handle volume, but we also knew going in that we needed someone with fine dining expertise.”
After purchasing the restaurants, the Pack Brothers brought on Ken Dodd as an operational partner. Dodd was the longtime director of operations of the restaurants, and his fine dining expertise has been the perfect complement to the brothers’ business savvy.
While Vintage Tavern and River Stone Chophouse have undergone some subtle improvements under the new ownership, the Pack Brothers are committed to maintaining what customers love about the establishments—as well as bringing back old favorites, like the sushi bar at River Stone Chophouse.
The Pack Brothers have broadened the scope of their family business in a way they could not have anticipated when they first took it over. That growth has not always been easy, but throughout it all, they have had one other to lean on.
“We’re hands-on owners, and the hospitality business means nights and weekends,” Randy says. “That’s a challenge when you have a family. My kids are a bit older than Brian’s, so when I was out watching my kids’ games, Brian was there to keep things running. I didn’t want to leave him behind at the restaurant, but now that my kids are older and he’s the one at his kids’ sporting events, I’m able to do for him what he did for me.”
Trust and respect for one another are the keys to the success the brothers have experienced over the past two decades.
“We have different roles and we don’t step on each other’s toes. We also trust each other to make decisions,” Brian says. “It’s a blessing that there’s two of us, so someone is always there to take on the load.”
Despite the busyness of running multiple businesses and managing family life, Brian and Randy are both active participants in their communities. Randy is a member of the Smithfield Planning Commission and also served on the Town Council for 12 years. Brian is passionate about giving back to local youth and supporting the sports teams the best way he knows how—through delicious food.
Photos courtesy of Pack Brothers Hospitality
Chelsea Sherman
