The borough held a ribbon cutting on June 20 to officially celebrate the opening of Fishtown Seafood on Kings Highway.
The business actually opened in November, joining a location that debuted last year in Philadelphia’s Fitler Square. Its parent, Fishtown Seafood Company, opened its first bricks-and-mortar location in the city in 2022, in the same neighborhood that carries its name.
The company focuses heavily on the sustainability of products that come from fisheries aware of protecting the health of the ocean and maintaining fair labor practices in the harvesting of their products. Fishtown Seafood also participates in an oyster shell recycling program that encourages customers to return emptied shells that can help rebuild the Delaware Estuary.
Emily Marks is the office manager for the company and is on site at all three of its locations each week.
“It just kind of seemed like the next step,” she noted of the decision to open a store in Haddonfield. “We’ve done two neighborhoods in Philadelphia. People can kind of come to us there, and we wanted to jump the bridge and see how this would go in another space.”
The borough ribbon cutting was delayed until last month to draw more attention to Fishtown Seafood’s presence in town. It was thought the actual opening in November might have gone unnoticed.
“The Haddonfield business district actually offered to do the ribbon cutting,” Marks explained. “It was such a busy time around the holidays that they realized that people just may have missed the fact that we’ve opened and that we’re new to the neighborhood.”
Company founder Bryan Szeliga handed out free onigiri – or Japanese rice balls – to the first 50 people at the ribbon cutting, an event that closely coincided with National Sushi Day on June 18.
One major difference between Haddonfield’s Fishtown Seafood and the company’s city locations is the amount of prepared foods offered. While those options are available at the Fitler Square store, the borough site includes other offerings like lobster rolls.
“We’ve gotten a lot of press about our lobster rolls …” Marks noted. “This (Haddonfield) is the only location where we are actually making (them). You can purchase lobster roll kits at both of our other locations in Philadelphia, but if you want a prepared sandwich, this is the location you have to come to.”
Marks also noted that the Haddonfield store’s larger kitchen area allows for more variety and space to create prepared items. Another difference in the company’s locations is that the Kings Highway spot is closed on Monday and Tuesday; the others are open seven days a week.
“We’re going to start rolling out lobster rolls every day we’re open,” Marks promised, “so it won’t just be Thursday through Sunday. The prepared foods will be available every single day.”
The borough store also sells a variety of fish that are frozen immediately after being caught, including tuna steaks, shellfish and sashimi-grade salmon. Fishtown Seafood Company aims to expand its reach and bring sustainable seafood to more communities in the region.
“We’re hoping the neighborhood will realize that we’re here and maybe kind of re-route their shopping trips so they can pick up their seafood here …” Marks noted. “People said it’s something that they’ve been looking forward to, and that they think that the neighborhood needs.
