POPCORN POPCORN PLEASERS PLEASERS CONT CONT INUES INUES A A FAMILY FAMILY T T RADIT RADIT ION ION
By MIKE BOLLINGER
SMITHFIELD — Many times, people will refer to a big sporting event as a “Popcorn Match.” If you indeed want popcorn to go along with your big event, then Popcorn Pleasers at Carolina Premium Outlets is the place for you. Greenville native Zadrian Crandell is the owner of Popcorn Pleasers, assisted by family members and four employees. The business is dedicated to Crandell’s late brother, Kenneth “Popcorn Man” Jenkins, who died in December 2015. “He was known for the sweet and salty recipe. That was the only flavor he had,” Crandell said. “He is the foundation of this business. We made a promise to each other that if one of us passed, the other would take on the business. Unfortunately, God called him before me. I wanted to fulfill my promise I had made to him. He had always said he wanted it to be a family business.” Crandell said he started helping Jenkins in the popcorn business, and they began by selling at Williamsburg Premium Outlets in Virginia. “We decided to bring it back to North Carolina. No one was doing fresh popcorn here,” Crandell said. While the store at Carolina Premium Outlets is Popcorn Pleasers’ first storefront, Crandell had been selling popcorn long before that. He said they started in Greenville in a 10-foot by 10-foot tent on the corner of Arlington Boulevard and Dickinson Avenue. “We were known for the red tent,” he said. They also sold at flea markets in Rocky Mount, Greenville and Little Washington. Now, Crandell said, he is concentrating on the storefront in Smithfield. “We still serve the Greenville area some. We deliver there when people ask for it,” he said. “We have been blessed since we came to Smithfield. We have consistent customers and repeat customers. I have to thank all of them for their business,” Crandell said. “We wouldn’t have been able to do this 22 | [ JOHNSTON NOW ]
Popcorn Pleasers has been in its storefront location at Carolina Premium Outlets in Smithfield since July 2021. Owner Zadrian Crandell said business has been good, thanks in large part to consistent and repeat customers.
without our Smithfield customers.” Jenkins had sold popcorn at the outlets before, Crandell said, from a tent set up near the Lane Bryant store. Crandell said he made the decision to return to Smithfield in 2017 while at a flea market in Rocky Mount.
“It wasn’t very busy that day, and I started wondering where all the people were. Then it dawned on me that they would be at the outlets,” Crandell said. He said he talked with Carolina Premium Outlets, and they told him he was welcome. “It just so happened we decided to come on,
