A seaside seafood market is moving inland. Groomer’s Seafood is leaving its home of six years on North Beach for new digs at 5717 South Padre Island Drive on Corpus Christi’s Southside. The new location is in the old Boater’s World/Chubby’s Mattress and Furniture building at the Staples Street exit.
The move was announced via Facebook. Owner Rick Groomer said in the post that he had hoped to move to a building he purchased across from Groomer’s current North Beach location.
“We purchased property across the freeway from where we are now just south of the Harbor Subdivision on the waterfront,” he wrote. “But the lack of adequate utilities to support the size facility we wanted was just not in the cards. We tried ….”
The old location will be torn down after Groomer’s moves out to make way for the new Harbor Bridge. Although sad that the business has to leave North Beach, even after, he said, the city assured him two years ago he would not be affected by the Harbor Bridge construction, Groomer is excited about the possibilities for expansion.
“This new facility will be the only one of its kind in the coastal area,” he continued in his Facebook post. “A fully inspected F.D.A. and H.A.C.C.P. facility (whose) core mission is to protect and preserve our seafood resources, support our local fishermen, and continue to build our relationship with our community through socially responsible programs.”
With its original location in San Antonio, Groomer’s looks to expand its Corpus Christi offerings. The post included a list of new features for the new location:
• a larger selection of sustainable seafood from around the world with over 140 feet of display space;
• all-season pits, grills, and accessories for backyard chillin’ and grillin’;
• a very first Seafood Food Truck;
• a large selection of local wines and craft beers;
• a fishing tackle, custom rods, clothing, and accessories department;
• the largest selection of seafood spices and condiments anywhere;
• made-fresh-daily, ready-to-go seafood meals;
• Seafood 101 classes for the newbie wanting to know more about the industry;
• cooking classes using some of the finest in local and national chefs around;
• and Shrimp-mania, Lobster-mania, Oyster-mania, and Crawfish-mania events throughout the year.
Groomer’s opened its Corpus Christi location in October 2014. It is one of the largest seafood distributers in the state.