Teen entrepreneurs expand Killer Crab business to larger location

GAUTIER, Miss. (WLOX) - In just a year, Drake Killngsworth and his brother Chase have taken their Killer Crab LLC seafood restaurant business and expanded to a larger location. Here’s the catch: both Drake and Chase are still teenagers.

Drake Killingsworth, a 19-year-old restaurant aficionado of sorts, puts together Friday’s seafood pickup orders. He and his 17-year-old brother Chase have always been involved with seafood.

A year ago, they opened Killer Crab LLC in Gautier. A year later, they’re on their way to a growing teenage seafood empire.

“We have all thanks to our customers, they’re the ones that made this happen,” Drake said. “We started in a garage, then we started down there, now we bought this building. I mean, who wouldn’t want to own their own business? We love what we do, it’s fun, we love seafood.”

They sell all kinds of seafood, not just crabs, but when it’s time to go crabbing, Chase takes the lead.

“I do the crabbing. My brother does the business, answering the phones and does the business side of the part. Like running the boat, catching the crabs and shrimping, you know, stuff like that,” Chase said.

A little help is always nice, and that’s where the ladies come in, including Drake’s girlfriend Abby working the restaurant counter, while Chase’s girlfriend Esmerelda, or Esme as she’s called, handles the seafood market.

If it sounds like these teens have their act together, it’s because they do.

“It’s definitely paid off. I mean there’s a lot of kids are age just getting started in college. We’re full time here. 15-16 hours a day, every day,” Drake said.

They also tell us besides crabs, their big item in the fall and spring are crawfish.

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