Business hall of fame gets ?rst inductees

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the relationship between Erwin and Ted Danziger. Erwin and Ted Danziger are brothers. And Michael Barefoot is the founder of Southern Season. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

It takes a lot to grow a successful business in Chapel Hill.

It takes focus and patience. It takes ingenuity. And sometimes it takes just a little bit of pizza.

At least, that was the case for the legendary Chapel Hill restaurateurs Ted and Edward Danziger.

The father-son duo was inducted into the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce inaugural Hall of Fame class Wednesday, along with 11 other business leaders and families.

“Danzigers introduced rotisserie chicken to Chapel Hill,” said Erwin Danziger, Ted Danziger’s brother, who accepted the Hall of Fame award on behalf of his father and brother.

“And we introduced pizza,” he said. “That was never in Chapel Hill before the Danzigers came.”

More than 150 members of the Chapel Hill business community celebrated the inaugural inductees at a celebratory dinner at The Carolina Inn.

“Today, the success of this business community … is built because of the work that these men and women did,” said Aaron Nelson, president and CEO of the chamber.

Among other Chapel Hill restaurants, the Danzigers opened the former Franklin Street establishment The Ramshead Rathskeller, and Erwin Danziger said students were an integral part of their restaurants’ success.

“What made The Rathskeller profitable and successful was the fact that they were supported by the students, faculty and staff and citizens of Chapel Hill,” Erwin Danziger said.

Many of the inductees credited their faithful Chapel Hill patrons with the success of their businesses.

Michael Barefoot, the founder of the retail giant Southern Season, used to determine how much he would need to make each day to keep his store going.

Barefoot wouldn’t close his doors until he made that much money that day, according to a story from Scott Maitland, the owner of Top of the Hill, who awarded Barefoot with his Hall of Fame trophy.

Now, throngs of foodies visit Barefoot’s store every year, and Southern Season is nationally acclaimed for its gourmet food selection.

“Thank you to everybody in this room for all the support you’ve given to that little store since 1975,” Barefoot said.

Nelson said it’s stories like Barefoot’s that make the chamber’s job fun.

“We are in a room with legends,” he said.

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