EVERETT — The Waterfront Fish Market, which has sold fresh seafood on W. Marine View Drive for 13 years, is going out of business.
On Friday, the store’s tanks were empty and there was little fish, crabs and oysters remaining on the ice. A sign about the closure hung in the window. The store was expected to officially close Saturday.
Declining sales, an inability to compete with big stores and even the weather were factors in closing down the market, owner Dominic Peterson said.
“It has steadily declined for two years,” said Peterson, who has worked in the store for the past 10 years and has owned it since 2006.
Two years ago, sales in July — the month with the biggest sales — ran about $70,000. That dropped to $60,000 in 2010.
This month, the store only made half of that, Peterson said.
The Waterfront Fish Market needs enough sales during July and the other summer months to get it through the rest of the year, he said.
“This summer it never happened,” Peterson said.
He said he couldn’t compete with prices of some bigger stores such as Costco. If he had offered fish at those prices, he said would have lost $7 for every pound of fish if he sold.
He believes society’s focus on price will mean even more small businesses will close. In the long run, that means everyone will lose because consumers will have fewer options, he said.
Peterson tried to sell the store in February but there were no takers. The store’s equipment is to be sold next week.
Besides selling fresh seafood, Waterfront Fish Market also sold lunches. On Friday afternoon, Everett-resident Darrold Smith, one of the four employees, was preparing a meal for a customer.
“Everett is going to miss this fish and chips store. It was the only one,” Smith said.
Alejandro Dominguez: 425-339-3422; adominguez@heraldnet.com.
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