The Twin Cities fish market Coastal Seafoods is growing.
Its new Minneapolis location opened this week, right across the street from its much smaller former home. (There's another location in St. Paul.)
The new store, at 2007 E. 24th St., is almost four times larger than the original, and will have a cafe for prepared foods that showcase the underwater creatures also available to purchase raw.
"It's a way to show off these products, for people who maybe aren't familiar with a certain fish," said Keane Amdahl, Coastal Seafoods' marketing director.
With all the new freezer and refrigerator space in the 3,000-square-foot digs, the market is seriously expanding its seafood offerings. And it's venturing into other foods, too, with a charcuterie and cheese case.
Other than the new address, little is expected to change right away. New products will gradually roll out online, until the store opens for in-person shopping Aug. 31. Until then, it's continuing with curbside pickup at the new location. Just look for the metal fish hanging on hooks.
When the store does open to customers, they'll be limited to entering 10 at a time. There is no indoor seating for the cafe yet, and a cooking school space won't be offering classes, for now.
The plans for the expansion have been in the works for two years, Amdahl said. "We've been working on it for quite a while, but obviously it's pretty intricate and the pandemic put an interesting spin on the whole thing."
