An interview with...

Dorris Stiggins
Owner of the Mammoth Orange

 

Give me a little history of the Orange. This wasn't its original location.

No, it was located in the city of Chowchilla, on the old 99 Highway, which was a 3-lane road. When this particular section of the highway opened in 1954 they moved it here in order to get the business.

When did you take over?

In 1981.

And there have been 3 owners in the Orange's lifetime?

Yes, 3 owners.

What was it like when you took it over?

I can remember it was winter time, foggy as all get out, and we thought, "Oh, gosh what have we done." It wasn't particularly busy at the time. People couldn't see you; we had Tully fog and people couldn't see us. So it was in January and sure enough by April we were right up there, going great guns. So it's been very good business.

You say you grew up in this area; were you very familiar witht he Orange?

Yes, yes. I had been here many times before we even thought about purchasing it.

There were several like the Mammoth Orange?

Yes, they were all over, all over the Valley -- actually all over the southwest. But here in the Valley I remember as a child going to one in Tulare that was huge, right on the road. And of course when 99 went around, Tulare it took it out.

Was the Mammoth originally a franchise?

Not to my knowledge. They were all individually owned as far as I know. There may have been one owner that owned a couple of them. At one time we owned the one across the highway, which is about a mile from us. It wasn't profitable; it was to close to the intersection of 152 and 99. People had a hard time getting in and out, so it wasn't profitable at all. But this particular one has always been individually owned, so I don't know about any chain.

What was it about the Orange that made it successful?

I don't know, I think its just oddball. First of all it started off as an oddity, and then we just sort of looked into having good food, and we've kept the good food forever.

Was it originally a juice stand?

When they first started it was orange juice, lemonade, and hot dogs. Very quick to fix -- extremely profitable, I suppose. And then they started to add hamburgers and make it just like a fast food, probably about the time McDonalds opened.

That was going to be my next question: how in the world do you compete with franchises like that?

Oh, I have no problem. I have no problem competing against any of them. My food is by far better, its just as fast, it's probably just a little more expensive than a McDonald's "Big Mac." Actually, I have people come here that say they just couldn't wait to get back here because they couldn't stand the hamburgers at the other places. So actually I have no trouble competing with them.

Do you think much of your business comes from people that remember you from earlier times?

Oh, yes. I have many people that come here that say, "Oh, I was here when I was 4 years old, or my parents brought me here when I was 10, or we live in New Jersey and we only get out here every 3 years and we wanted to make sure that we stopped in." Yeah, definitely.

You have a new dilemma in terms of what is going to happen to the stand. Can you explain about what is going on?

Yes, CalTrans proposes to change the off-ramp here at the exit, and close us off from the highway. My costumers won't be able to get into me. This was probably going to happen in 2005 -- that is, their proposal. I'm hoping with the way the government is with their money situation that that might be extended. But if so, if they close this off, that will kill our business. Unless we are able to move us to an off-ramp or some easy access road.

What are the chances of that do you think?

I think it's pretty good. I think we have a lot of people pulling for us and working for us. I think that we stand a pretty good chance of moving to the off-ramp that they're building just south of us, which is about a mile away. That off-ramp will be open when this one is closed off, so I think that we have a pretty good chance.

In the event that CalTrans won't move you, would you be able to move yourself?

Possibly, with the help of a lot of good friends.

So that's an option?

That's an option.

But you would rather not have to do that?

I would rather not have to because I am happy where I am. I'd be happy to stay here forever, if they would just leave me alone.

Now is that likely?

No, that's not likely! (laughing).

The focus of the program we're doing is on the disappearance of places like this up and down the Central Valley: landmarks that have been here for years, icons that really identify what the central valley is and has been. How do you feel about that?

I think it's terrible. It's just going to be another little business on the side of the road with weeds growing up around it, and I think it's a terrible thing. Right now it's alive; if they close off this exit it will die. I think that a lot of our good landmarks have died along the way. I think it's a terrible thing. It's like discarding people.

The move that would take away your access is tied to the beautification project that is underway. Are you being affected by that at all? Are you taking steps to participate in that?

Well, I would like to. I have talked to the people at the Great Valley Center. So yes, I would like to. But at this point with our imminent demise, I am not doing too much right now. I am just waiting to see what CalTrans is going to do. Yes, I would like to participate in that very much.

Apparently you're profitable.

Yes.

And you are seasonable?

To a great degree. We stay open all year. We have a lot of good costumers that come even if it is pouring down rain or if it is pea soup foggy. But for the most part, the hotter it is the more business we do.

We use the very best products we can use, fresh products. We have to; that's the only way we'll stay alive.

A lot of my costumers bring their grandchildren because they were here when they were young. And they want their grandchildren to experience eating outside, and eating from and orange. In fact, Mrs. Eisenburg from Merced has a granddaughter -- I believe 3rd or 4th grade. She brought the entire class here because she wanted her grandchildren and all of her class to experience eating at the Orange before we closed down. It's amazing, it's amazing. We have an awful lot of people who only come here once a year, or once every two years, but they keep coming back.

The Central Valley is the fastest growing region in California. What are your feelings about that, and the how that growth affects businesses like yours?

Well, growth is good, progress is good. But I am not for tearing things down. If you have a good thing, keep it. If you have a beautiful court house, keep it, don't tear it down. If you have a beautiful old bridge, keep it, repair it, use it, don't tear it down. I am not in favor of that. I am in favor of having the old things as long as they're good. Of course, when they're not good, that's a different story. But I would like to see this place stay on forever. It's been a good place, it has attracted a lot of good people, and I would like to see it stay here. I don't know if we will be able to, but we're trying our very best.