Northern Fish Products new location to open soon
May 6th, 2008 by Republican By DefaultI stopped by the new waterfront location of Northern Fish Products on Ruston Way today and chatted with the folks getting ready to open it up. They’re hoping to open before the copper river salmon show up just after the15th of this month.
They’ll be selling fish products in what appears to be a market style, and will be selling things that will appeal to the foot traffic. It’s a great idea since that street probably has more foot traffic during the summer than even the busiest streets downtown. I’m guessing only the mall can compete with the numbers they’ll see going by each day during the summer.
Inside is a nice open floor plan surrounded by display coolers and a counter. Outside is a walk-up window and picnic tables. They’re considerably restricted on allowable sign space since they’re on the waterfront, but they’ll have artwork on the side of the building that will indicate what they sell.
They also have the benefit of the long-standing fish market that they’re replacing in that location. It’s nice that the old place closed down after the Christmas season and the new one opened before summer. I don’t think they lost much continuity that way.
I think they have a good chance of doing well in that location. They seem to have changed the things that might have kept people from coming in in the past. And I did mention the smelly dumpster out front. They plan to keep it clean, especially on hot summer days.
This just may be a new place to stop when I’m walking my dog on the waterfront. And I’m really looking forward to picking up some salmon.
May 7th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
A walk-up window - sweet! One more (makes it 2) on the waterfront, score 0 (that I know of anyway) elsewhere, where one can walk up WITH the dog and buy something. Wish there were walk-up windows at: Starbucks; Safeway; Walgreens - would be an incentive to walk, not drive, the few blocks from home to pick up small items or grab a bite.
May 7th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Businesses don’t tend to initiate those things, they usually respond to the demand. If enough people ask (and the city lets them) they’ll find a way to increase business by meeting a need.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I visited Northern Fish Products today and was quite disappointed. The fish on special are high on the list of enviornmental damage. For example, farmed salmon was cheap ($6 per pound), whereas wild salmon was $27-$45 per pound! The people working did not seem to know where the fish came from. I would like to visit a fish shop where more information is available, including the green-red coding system for the most sustainable choice. http://www.blueocean.org