US retailers promote seafood for holiday weekend

The smart U.S. retailers are repeating what works this Labor Day weekend. Recognizing the end-of-summer grilling and gathering season, most supermarket chains and fish markets all over the U.S. have seafood on special for the Labor Day weekend. A few are sticking to — and ramping up — promotions that have worked well for them in years past.

Greensboro, N.C.-based The Fresh Market’s 158 stores are featuring fresh, wild king salmon for USD 15.99 (EUR 12.13) a pound and 21/25s wild American shrimp for USD 13.99 (EUR 10.61) per pound. “The fresh king salmon will be the best seller this weekend. This is the third year in a row we have been able to promote fresh king for Labor Day, and it is always a favorite for the grill,” Brian Harbach, seafood category manager for The Fresh Market, told SeafoodSource.

Labor Day weekend is the chain’s last big chance to push seafood for cookouts, so “we try to get some exciting items that work well on the grill,” Harbach said. “Wild American shrimp and fresh, wild salmon are two great items to cook outside, so we hope to catch the attention of customers looking to barbecue on this long weekend.”

Wild salmon is also king at Dayton, Ohio-based Dorothy Lane Market’s three stores. Every Labor Day, the chain holds a Whole Salmon Sidewalk Sale, where DLM seafood staff grill and sample wild Alaska salmon for shoppers. They also cut salmon into steaks and fillets at no extra charge.

Similar to past Labor Day sales, Monahan’s Seafood Market in Ann Arbor, Mich. is promoting fish for grilling as well as softshell crab. “This is the last big hurrah of grilling for the summer, so we always push the good grilling fish: swordfish, tuna, and other whole fish and firm fish fillets,” Owner Mike Monahan told SeafoodSource.

High quality New England swordfish is starting to pick up, Monahan said, and will retail for USD 24.95 (EUR 18.92) per pound over the weekend. Meanwhile, Monahan’s is selling Bigeye and Yellowfin tuna for USD 39.95 (EUR 30.30) per pound.

The softshell Maryland crab season is starting to wrap up, so Monahan’s is bringing in a lot for the holiday weekend. “Whale” crabs will likely be priced at USD 9.95 (EUR 7.55) per pound, while jumbos will be less.

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