SeaFood Business

MAR 2013

SeaFood Business is the global trusted authority for seafood buyers and sellers. We are the seafood industry's leading trade magazine with more than 30 years of experience. Our coverage is based on the "business" of buying and selling seafood.

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What���s in Store Photo courtesy of Cod & Capers Cod & Capers��� fresh look has translated into an increase in retail seafood sales. Movin��� on up Success necessitates changes for do-it-all Cod & Capers BY CHRISTINE BLANK A fter selling seafood at the same Palm Beach, Fla., spot for nearly 30 years, Cod & Capers Seafood was eager for a much larger space, one with room for a caf��, a ���sh market, a wholesale operation and o���ces. Tat was no small task, since its previous facility was just 4,600 square feet, even after three separate expansions. Te challenges of renovating in���uenced the careful steps that owner Steve Gyland took when shopping for a new site. ���We started the process of looking [for property] back in 2008, and it took almost two years of negotiating to close the deal on where we are now,��� Gyland says. 38 SeaFood Business March 2013 Gyland and other Cod & Capers executives settled on the new 8,600-square-foot, free-standing building ��� which opened in early January ��� because of its space and location. Situated right o��� of U.S. Route 1, a major north-south highway that traces the entire East Coast, the massive building used to be a T.G.I. Friday���s. Te new spot is also convenient for the store���s loyal customers, since it is only about two miles away from its old location. While Gyland wanted to open a restaurant within the new building, the chain-restaurant setup wasn���t the right ���t. Te new owners decided to completely gut the facility, ���down to the dirt ���oor,��� Gyland says, and completely re-design the structure to function as its current mixed retail, Cod & Capers Caf�� and wholesale operation. ���We looked at trying to use what was here and work around that. Had I not been in the seafood business as long as I have and had gone through those expansions, I might have tried ���xing it up,��� Gyland says. For example, Gyland could have relocated Cod & Capers��� all new refrigeration and freezer equipment and completely revamped the building for around $1.5 million. Next, they needed to ���gure out how to transfer operations without disrupting customer service. ���Normally, it would take three to four weeks to shut down while we would transfer all the coolers, freezers, display cases and other equipment. Because of the wholesale nature of our business ��� a fairly large component ��� we became aware of the fact that we really couldn���t shut down,��� Gyland says. So, on Saturday, Jan. 5, after closing the old Cod & Capers location at 6 p.m., the entire sta��� began moving all of its equipment and product, including computers, phones and seafood inventory, across town. ���We spent Saturday afternoon until Monday morning re-stocking the new store and getting everything in place. Our wholesale business was completely operational on Monday morning,��� Gyland says. Te new building features around 4,000 square feet for cold storage, 2,200 square feet of retail and wholesale space, 900 square ���Because of the wholesale nature of our business we became aware of the fact that we really couldn���t shut down.��� ��� Steve Gyland, owner, Cod & Capers 20-year-old coolers and freezers, but realized that would be more expensive in the long run. ���It could have cost $35,000 to move an $80,000 freezer,��� Gyland says, not to mention a necessary shutdown for several weeks. Instead, the team purchased feet for o���ces, and around 1,500 square feet for the caf��, which also sports a 1,500-square-foot outdoor patio with canopy. While the previous Cod & Capers location did not feature a caf��, customers Continued on page 84 Visit us online at www.seafoodbusiness.com

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