Longtime seafood processor, wholesaler, and retailer Steve Connolly Seafood Company in Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A., closed its doors on 1 January.
“It has been an honor for all of us at the Steve Connolly Seafood Company to serve the Cape Ann area with nothing but the freshest and best selection of seafood possible. Thank you for all the wonderful memories and amazing friendships that have been forged over the past 30-plus years of business,” the firm’s executives wrote, as reported by the Gloucester Times.
The company's facility in Boston, Massachusetts, will remain open, Steve Connolly Seafood Chief Operating Officer David Coombes confirmed to SeafoodSource. The company supplies fresh seafood to high-end resorts around the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe, so “Boston gives us better access to transportation for all fo that,” Coombes said.
“Our main plant is and always has been in Boston. It is within a couple miles of the airport and trucking terminals so our Boston plant has always been our shipping point as well as the primary receiving point for many of the species we buy,” Coombes said.
Coombes added that the consolidation of the business, while "heartbreaking," allows the company to have its entire team together “so we can use our depth of knowledge to navigate the environment as we move forward,” Coombes added. “Things have improved tremendously in the market segments we serve and we are very optimistic looking at 2022 and beyond.”
The Gloucester closure was a side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
“Our business focus for 40-plus years has been providing top quality fresh seafood to high end hotels, resorts, restaurants and private clubs across this country and overseas. COVID had a huge impact on that segment and certainly affected us as it did pretty much everyone” Coombes said.
Supply chain and staffing issues due to the pandemic, as well as changes in the fisheries over the past several years, also factored into the decision. “We survived last year and the company is strong. I think everyone who did is a better operator having been through it.”
This year, “as always,” the company’s focus is “providing the best fresh seafood available to our clients on an order-to-order basis,” Coombes said. “This is especially important this year as we want to be sure our clients provide a memorable dining experience to their guests.”
“We will continue to focus on the market segments we have served for the past 40 years. That is what we know and where our expertise is,” Coombes said.
Photo courtesy of Steve Connolly Seafood Company
