Fearless Fish Closing Original West End Location in Providence
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Fearless Fish is closing its original location in the West End of Providence.
The first location opened on West Fountain Street in 2019; the business said its newest location on the East Side of Providence on Hope Street will remain open.
On Tuesday, Stuart Meltzer with Fearless Fish shared the following:
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"This is Stu:
I've decided to close the West Side store, effective today. I've mentioned to many of you that a lot of sales shifted from the West Side to the East Side store. More sales came over than we expected -- to the point where the West Side store was no longer profitable. After doing the numbers, in order for that store to become profitable, we would have had to double our sales. Given our most recent year over year growth rate at the West Side store, I figure it would take about 24 years for that to happen. (Which I do not have the patience for!!)
And maybe most importantly, the case never looked as good as I would've liked. It required a lot of time and effort to shuffle product around and there was simply not enough demand to have a nice looking, stacked case.
I don't regret having tried to operate both stores (versus simply moving locations). The West Side got us off the ground and we felt an obligation to try to make it work. And yes, we still have a lease there. However, (1) it was costing me more than the monthly rent to operate (with staff, electricity, insurance, etc.) and (2) it is a desirable location for certain concepts (namely a small oyster bar - in my opinion) and the space is already more or less built out for that purpose. Given this, I have good confidence that the space will be rented to another promising proprietor and we are actively working to help make that happen. If you or anyone you know might be interested in taking over the space, contact Seth Zeren at Armory Management (401) 272-2720. For current West Side Fish Share customers and anyone who would still like to get a fresh fish option on that part of town, we will continue the Fearless Fish Share at Y Marumaru at 267 Broadway.
That said, as many of you know, sales at the Hope Street store have been really strong and we are extraordinarily grateful for that. I am confident that this adjustment will help us improve our offering even more at Hope Street and put Fearless Fish on solid footing for a long, healthy future here in Providence."
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