Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Legal Sea Foods has relocated its headquarters to the Boston Fish Pier and announced its intentions to open a 30,000-square-foot innovation center in early 2024, both of which will bolster Legal’s physical restaurant expansion and its growing e-commerce business.
When PPX Hospitality Brands, which operates the Smith & Wollensky and Strega Italiano restaurant chains, purchased Legal Sea Foods in 2020 from founder Roger Berkowitz, it gained a 75,000-square-foot processing plant in Boston’s Seaport district that was originally designed for large-scale industrial production.
Finding it difficult to adapt the 25-year-old facility into a modern, functional headquarters, Legal looked for solutions within the local industry.
“The eventual result was a creative deal allowing Legal to relocate part of the company to Boston’s renowned Fish Pier while offering a global seafood company [Stavis Seafoods] the processing space they had been searching for,” the company stated. “Legal and the processor agreed to a facility swap, enabling both parties to continue operations seamlessly, while Legal constructed a cutting-edge facility better suited to its production needs.”
Legal – as well as the Smith & Wollensky and Strega Italiano brands – now occupy refurbished offices on the Boston Fish Pier. The facility is close to vital seafood partners like Boston-based North Coast Seafoods and local fishing vessels, and is steps away from Legal’s flagship restaurant: Legal Harborside.
“Legal’s leadership and support teams are now intimately connected to the source, reflecting the brand’s essence,” the company said. The offices house various departments including accounting, human resources, marketing, IT, purchasing, operations, e-commerce, and retail.
Legal’s quality control center also required refurbishing, and executives “recognized the need for a more modern space that would provide efficiency, speed, and quality assurance of its restaurant products and the introduction of e-commerce,” Legal stated.
To that end, the soon-to-open innovation center in Milford, Massachusetts, will allow Legal and PPX “to create new dishes and test recipes and [provide] internal education – for both our restaurant and e-commerce operations,” Legal Brand President and Chief Operating Officer Matt King told SeafoodSource.
The center will provide a venue for quality control and assurance, central commissary and distribution, e-commerce and retail fulfillment, research, development, and training.
Legal and PPX are partnering with Clarke, a company that operates test kitchen showrooms, to create the center.
“Clarke’s award-winning facility provides its own test kitchen with guest seating, a fully equipped television studio, a hydroponic farm housed in a shipping container that provides fresh produce and herbs year-round, and an array of solar panels on the roof that has produced net-zero electricity usage for more than a decade,” Legal said.
Both the relocated headquarters and innovation center signal a new chapter in the company’s storied history.
“[The] new HQ and innovation center signify a pivotal milestone in our expansion and growth. Investing in this dynamic space allows us to fuel our commitment to innovation and excellence in the industry,” King said.
It’s crucial for the company to have a “cutting-edge environment that cultivates creativity and collaboration, as it ensures our ability to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” King added.
Those evolving needs include the rapid growth of online shopping – a trend that PPX has incorporated into Legal’s operations after acquiring the company.
“The significant spike in demand for our products online can be attributed to several factors,” King said, highlighting that the Covid-19 pandemic was the biggest contributing factor to accelerating the adoption of e-commerce, as more consumers turned to online channels for their everyday needs.
“Legal Sea Foods recognized this trend and swiftly adapted to provide a seamless digital experience, offering our high-quality products conveniently to our guests’ doorsteps,” King said. “Through our robust e-commerce platform, we have been able to cater to the evolving preferences of our nationwide audience, who appreciate the convenience, safety, and reliability of ordering our seafood offerings from the comfort of their homes.”
Customers can now purchase Legal’s signature New England clam chowder, a variety of high-quality fish, and bundles “that bring the restaurant experience right to your door, directly from the source,” Legal said in a press release. “With this development, the company has invested in radically improving its support, production, and fulfillment operations while upholding its high standards of quality and sustainability."
In addition to its new e-commerce venture, Legal opened two restaurants this year and plans to add two more in the coming months. One will be located in Boston Logan International Airport, and the company will also open a freestanding Legal Sea Foods in Chicago, Illinois.
Photo courtesy of Legal Sea Foods
