Rick Groomer, president of Groomer’s Seafood, hangs out with a few of his freshest friends in the new wholesale and retail facility in Corpus Christi’s North Beach. Staff photo
Step into the new Groomer's Seafood on North Beach in Corpus Christi for a taste of fishmonger madness straight from Seattle.
“We put on quite a show here,” said Rick Groomer, who owns the business with his brother, Mike. “We see the North Beach area as a quaint fishing community with that tourist appeal. We want to give people a great experience when they come in.”
The new location opened in October with 8,000 square feet of wholesale and retail space. A huge panoramic window gives customers a front-row seat to pick out the freshest catch and see it prepared in style — entertainment with promise of a great meal after!
The San Antonio-based company is one of the largest seafood distributers in the state of Texas. Groomer’s Seafood services nearly 2,000 restaurants, country clubs and retail stores, including Whole Foods, in the Lone Star state. The company is also the fresh seafood distributor for Sysco Foods.
The family-owned business has been deeply rooted in the fishing industry since the late 1800s. Today, the company is run by brothers Rick and Mike Groomer, who are excited about their new digs by the bay.
“We are blown away by our introduction to the Corpus market,” Rick Groomer told Corpus Christi Business News. “We have been going gangbusters since day one here.”
As much as the Groomer brothers love Corpus Christi, the decision to expand the business was not an easy one. While the company has experienced tremendous success in its Central Texas location, a seafood company located inland presented obvious challenges. The company needed to be closer to its product.
“We had to think long and hard about expanding into a new market,” Rick said. "But everything is timing, and right now, the seafood industry is growing exponentially.”
