5:12:60 The fishguys of Pike Place Fish Market

You click, Chase pays, our family wins!

2010-07-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

The FISH video that was made 14 years ago captured something special; it captured a bit of who we are and a bit of what makes us tick. What makes us as an organization "tick" though is a collection of individual commitment. Us as a group can't do too much, but each person playing his role to the best of his abililty makes for what we call "wholes in allignment". We are wholes at work and we are wholes outside of work (cause let's face it, this place isn't just a job).

The FISH video shows us at work and I swear if someone were to make a film that would come close to its success, it would be about us as people and who we are in life and who we are in the community. A workplace is a workplace and you can turn that on and off, but you always have to look at yourself in the mirror when the gates close. The collection of fishmongers that have clocked in at this place know that the skills and experiences at this place do not stop with seafood. From Dan Bugge and his phenomenally successful restaurant "Matt's in the Market" to Darren Killian and his work at the Recovery Cafe here in Seattle, those are just two of the examples of recent Pike Place Fish graduates.

One alumnus in particular who's doing great things for his community is Doug Strauss. Doug married his high school sweetheart and made seven little Strausses all while becoming a full time teacher and working at Pike Place Fish. After a long battle with cancer, his daughter Gloria passed away in 2007. Following a Pullitzer-Prize nominated series of articles, Seattle Times reporter Jerry Brewer wrote the book Gloria's Miracle as a testament to the power within Gloria and the Strauss family. If you spend any amount of time with or around the Strausses, you can feel the joy, peace and love coming out of every one of them. We like to say it started at a fish market, and I'm sure his patience for the seven little ones was fine-tuned by working a retail fish market.

Either way, Doug and his wife Kristen now run a non-profit out of Federal Way, Washington in Gloria's honor called "Gloria's Angels".

From their website: We accomplish our mission in the following ways:

Lifting burdens - guiding families through the maze of services so they can focus on care, not burdensome procedures
Comprehensive approach - walking with people across the spectrum of needs, partnering with service agencies across all elements of care (Medical, Spiritual, Professional, Domestic, Community)
Filling gaps - providing for essential needs not covered by other agencies
Building communities - connecting community-based volunteers with people in their own neighborhood during their times of great need and beyond

Chase Bank is giving away thousands of dollars in the next couple days and they're doing it based on online votes. They have the money, you don't have to give any for this push. All you have to do is vote for Gloria's Angels on facebook. The link is right here, corporate giving programs are amazing ways to help out community organizations and our blog is an even better way to let you know how our family is helping others. We sell fish but as we all know, we're here to spread peace and love for the world. Well folks, I hate to say it, but today it starts on facebook...........so click to vote for the Strauss family! Chase Commuinity Giving, Gloria's Angels, vote for free so the work of the Strauss family gets some support.

Fishguys on the radio

2010-06-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

Speaking alongside Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet, Bryan and Anders stopped by an online radio show to chat it up with "Into the Soup".

Their spot is around minute 28, discussing our upcoming cookbook! The host Heidi, pictured here, digs it and she says you should too. Bryan and Anders will probably be back on her show again, we'll be sure to let you know

http://www.intothesoup.com/soup-radio-june-12-2010

pictures from the MDA lockup event

2010-06-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

Scotty, his "parole officer" Candace and one of the arresting firefighters who donated a day of his time for MDA.

In jail.........in the Qwest Field Lounge made to be like uh.....Hollywood.

Tabby helped me navigate the jail cell and made sure I got the full education on where our donations went for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in King County.

Although they didn't use the handcuffs to drag Scotty through the market, they did get lost in the BMW paddy wagon that took them all over Seattle.

Pre-arresting meditation

2010-06-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

We're about 45 minutes out from my "arrest" by the Muscular Dystrophy Association. They're a charity and I'm a perfectly obedient, law-abiding citizen. Their arrest includes firefighters and a brand new, BMW uh..."paddy-wagon". It's an odd feeling knowing you're being arrested, a sort of impending doom right? I have money from my list of donating friends and I'm going in a luxury car, not exactly a customary arrest.

The theater of it all is quite convincing; the arrest, my parole officer Candace at MDA who emails me and calls me, a website with kids in police uniforms. It's just another Tuesday here in Seattle and I do believe I'm still not quite sure how to be about all this. I don't really have an idea of what I'm doing at this "event" which makes for an interesting new space; a space free of preconceptions. I may have thrown a fish and shoveled ice a billion times over my years, but never like this before right? Creating an act as new every single time no matter how many times you've done it takes an intention.

Having done charity events in the past with the Livestrong organization or running a 5k and attending info sessions about an organization's role in the community, I do feel confident in the way all this stuff goes down; you reach out to friends, family and coworkers to raise some money and enjoy the event. What's pretty exciting about this one is that we raised almost $200 from our customers yesterday and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing at this event. No bikes, no running, just a forum where we can be Pike Place Fish at a big, Seattle event.

Choo-choo-choose me

2010-05-28T13:51:00.001-07:00

Same fish, two prices. Why?
They're not the same and because we like distinctions so much around here, we'll lay it out:

One is previously frozen, one is fresh.
One is from China, one is from Equador.
One is cheap because it's plentiful and comes from a place with no accountability to their practices.
The other, is sustainably raised and distributed by a wholesale fish distributor partnered with Whole Foods.

What we did at our meeting two weeks ago was commit to being a fish market that stands for sustainability, completely by January 1. The earth provides what we sell, and therefore we owe it all we can. This means constantly looking at the Monterrey Bay Seafood Watch, demanding more from our suppliers, carrying new stuff and probably getting rid of some stuff.

"It's two shows of tilapia," Dicky laughs. "The sustainable one is double the price, we gotta give people the choice for now".
In an environment where everyone from UW football Coach Steve Sarkisian ($1.85 million salary) to the neighborhood folks living in low income housing and the temporary shelter dwellers buy fish for less than a dollar.....a choice is what we can offer. Making a choice is empowering and we hope that by us making a choice for better fish, customers will see the importance and power of the purse in the health of our planet and fisheries. Will we continue to carry two displays of tilapia? Probably not, but between the new sustainably raised ling cod and the new tilapia, today was a big day for Pike Place Fish.

As he dropped off our new selection of responsibly raised tilapia, Rick Cavanaugh of Select Fish (wholesaler for Whole Foods) added his support: "If you guys are going down the sustainability route, just know I can help. It can be a tough slope, but the world has a listening".
With over 10 million people at the Pike Place Market every year, a lot of whom come by our stand, we have a responsibiliity to take a stand for who we are and what we we want to see in the world. We can have fun at work, we're real good at that, but it's time for better seafood. We can't do this alone, so please keep the comments coming and know we thrive on discussion.

Up Next:
Thursday meeting with Mashiko Japanese Seafood Restaurant.
Muscular Dystrophy Association lockup event with the Seattle Seahawks

A chat with Johnny

2010-05-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up to the steelhead announcement, we bring you a brief conversation with John Yokoyama, the long-time owner of Pike Place Fish. He stopped in the market to grab some vegetables and a fat, Copper River King steak for dinner and answered a few questions.

How long have you been at Pike Place Fish?
My dad owned the stand that was fruit and vegetables beside me and I've owned the fish market since 1965.

Tell us about your experience fishing in the Puget Sound.
This was in the early 50s, but we would fish in Edmunds and Whidbey Island, the Green River. We'd get pissed off if we didn't catch something in the first 10 minutes! Black cod, ling cod, true cod, yellow eyes, sometimes halibut. If we caught steelhead, we'd give it away..too dry for me anyway. I'm not sure you can even go catch those things anymore around here. I fish for kings still on nice days.

What do you hear from buyers and suppliers about certain fish's availability, questions of sustainability?
Well you see certain species declining in availability, prices going up and even the sizes getting smaller. We used to see petrale sole like this and now there just tiny! It's not really "whisper down the lane" with the supply chain but you buy fish for as long as I have, you really do see the whole industry evolving a bit. We're definitely in a new era from when I was first an owner.

What does that "new era" mean for you as an owner?
This steelhead move is a good example, we're basically catering to what people have told us. We as a group decided, it wasn't just me saying "this is how it's going to be." Over time, different guys brought up certain articles, certain emails from people, looked up their own research. We then said hey, in order to really BE our commitment, we may have to stop selling this.

Seems almost backward from a business sense?
Yeah, it was a fish that we sold ya know? It's not like it was something that didn't make us money. But it's not in line with who we are and want to be. It's funny because stopping something that helped make your business money doesn't seem right. But to us as a group and to me, integrity is more important.

Does the response suprise you?
I'm 68 so the instantaneous response is overwhelming, so quickly we heard from people! We're here to serve and take care of people and if they don't want something, what are we to do?

So change is a no-brainer?
Well it's not easy. I'm not the same person or business owner I was 30 years ago. If you had asked me to stop selling something then, I would have told you to take a walk. My mind has changed, I've changed and you wouldn't have even known me then....let alone wanted to work for me! Change can be instantaneous like making a hard decision about an employee going somewhere else and the team integrity is back OR it can be a long process like this sustainability move for us at Pike Place Fish. It's not going to happen overnight, but I'm glad we're doing what we're doing. This could get in the media you know?

Does that scare you?
Not at all, go ahead and bring it. All we have done in the past and something big we can do now is lead by example. We can't tell people how to run their business, all we can do is show that we care about who we are and what we sell. For you guys that work here, you're creating the business the way you want it for your future. I'm not going to be around forever as an owner so it's up to my guys to make this place the way they want it.

A "retired" fishmonger's continued work

2010-05-16T21:23:00.001-07:00

May 15th and 16th 2010 meant the Seattle Cheese Festival. Tents, trucks and toothpicks dotted the market as folks milled about (some with red wine on the lips and throwin' elbows to get that damn free sample!). For two days, the street was chauk-full of people and blocked off to normal traffic. We were selling our fish as normal, touting the merits of smoked salmon and buttery Beecher's Handmade Clean Slate. The sun was out and the Copper River Kings and Sockeyes flew like boeing 747's. So basically, just another weekend in Seattle.

Once the bars are full at 7pm, there's a line around the block at the Showbox Theater, and people begin to make dinner plans, nine-year fishmonger Anders Miller and former fishmonger turned restaurateur Dan Bugge are hard at work. Steamer clams with chorizo and white wine fill the air. Two floors above the market bricks at Matt's in the Market, Anders and Dan's party of 14 has downed their pork belly pattes, Mamma Lil's Peppers and are beginning to drool for their Skagit River King Salmon and halibut dusted with Asparagus puree and pancetta.

"We've been doing this for five or six years now," Dan says referring to his participation in the Jacob Green's charity auction.
"He's retired from the tossing part at the auction but we can still collaborate on the food," Anders says as he maneuvers around his fellow chef-coat clad, backwards hat wearing fishmonger and long-time friend. "We've been buddies for a long time, I'm just glad we can keep a tradition like this going."

After two or three years of the auction dinner occurring at the winner John DeVore's house in Redmond, Dan and Anders have been throwing this private party at Dan's 52-seat restaurant ever since he became co-owner back in 2007. "We're not usually open on Sunday nights. I can cook with my buddy for a charity with awesome people and not stress about anything else," Dan says.

In his 13 year National Football League career, Jacob Green played twelve seasons for the Seattle Seahawks, as number 79, and one season for the San Francisco 49ers. As his father endured chemo, Green decided to begin using his fame for a good cause at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dan, being a longtime Seahawk fan and experiencing something similar with his father wanted to get on board. "Whether it's for the Kirkland Boys and Girls Club with Steve Largent or here at my own restaurant, the auctions are always fun. We raise tons of money for a good cause and hopefully in the future, we'll continue to grow."

We at Pike Place Fish give back a lot and whenever we can do so with food, you can be sure it's good. "Keeping it local, fresh and now a partnership with the fish market and my restaurant, it's only going to get better," said Dan.

With a solid group of return diners, one including Don James the "Dawgfather" of University of Washington football, you can't fault Dan and Anders for being ambitious. "You coached me well Mr. James," said Anders. "At the auction when I caught a fish, you had to remind me to put down my wine glass! So thanks coach".

This summer at the Westin in Seattle, the auction will happen again and if John DeVore's has anything to say about it, you won't get anywhere near his hallowed tradition. "Good part is we can have a delicious dinner served by two guys we trust, and my friends and family can experience what the market has to offer; some of them have never even been down here," says DeVores.

No More Steelhead at PPFM

2010-05-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

We've read your emails, we've taken in the conversations at the market, we've had sustainability representatives speak at our meetings, and we've asked the tough questions to our suppliers. Our commitment is to make a difference and we can do that on many fronts, the supply of our seafood being one. We're constantly educating ourselves and understand sustainability to be a process and one that starts with no longer carrying wild steelhead.

Identified as a "species of concern" by the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1998, Steelhead trout has always been a hot-button issue for the pacific northwest all the way down into southern California. The map on the right comes from the Office of Protected Resources and provides a visual of steelhead's status as "threatened" yellow and "endangered" in red. The map is relatively small and hard to see, so click here to see it in full size.

Steelhead are similar to some Pacific salmon in their life cycle and ecological requirements. They are born in fresh water streams, where they spend their first 1-3 years of life. They then emigrate to the ocean where most of their growth occurs. After spending between one to four growing seasons in the ocean, steelhead return to their native fresh water stream to spawn. Unlike Pacific salmon, steelhead do not necessarily die after spawning and are able to spawn more than once. To the taste, they are more lean and mild tasting salmon.

As a fish market with power and responsibility for who we are on this planet, steelhead no longer fits in with our intention to provide sustainable seafood.

Although for years we've provided a variety of steelhead not present on the "endangered" list from the Olympic Peninsula here in Washington, the issue is much larger than we can begin to explain. It's now our intention to find a more sustainably managed variety of ocean going trout in the future (perhaps an aquaculture version). Efforts are widespread to better manage the populations and possibly recover the depletion of this species, and we fully support these, but the sale of wild steelhead will no longer occur at Pike Place Fish.

Please read further reports and information about this species here at the following links.

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/steelheadtrout.htm
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/salmon.htm

I'm going to jail

2010-04-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

June 8th is a day we may all celebrate. It's the day I go to jail. That's right, jail.

I am going to show up at work at 6:30 and go about my day until "sometime in the afternoon", a group of people are going to arrest me and take me to Qwest Field and lock me up. To post bail, I'm raising money for the Seattle Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

This is an organization here in King County that Pike Place Fish has partnered with in the past. Last year, our own 25 year veteran Sam Samson went behind the bars and this year, it's gonna be me! I kicked off the donations, but please help us provide the healthcare and support for those affected by muscular dystrophy. This page is where you can donate to our push to bust me out of jail:
https://www.joinmda.org/seattle2010qwestfield/scladley

91 cents of every dollar I raise actually stays local to provide medical services and fund research in Seattle. Can you help me reach my goal of $5001 by funding one of the services provided for the 600 MDA clients in King County?

MDA funds go directly to research, health care services and education.

* $30 pays for a flu shot for someone for whom respiratory disease could be very dangerous
* $74 pays for one minute of research at University of Washington Medical Center and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
* $100 covers a vital support group meeting
* $150 provides for an expert consultation in physical, occupational or respiratory therapy
* $200 covers a diagnostic workup at one of MDA's 235 clinics
* $500 covers the cost for annual repairs of durable medical equipment- wheelchair, leg braces or communication device
* $800 sends a kid to MDA summer camp

If so, you can donate on my secure website:

www.joinmda.org/seattle2010qwestfield/scladley

OR, I can accept cash and checks made out to MDA to bring with me to “jail” at the Qwest Field on June 8th.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Donations to MDA provide help and hope in many ways:

Clinics - expert specialized medical care
Research - cutting-edge investigation into treatments and cures
Support - help obtaining equipment and coping with challenges
Camp - a barrier-free week of fun, friendship and laughter for kids

And so much more - visit mda.org for information on how MDA makes a difference to people around the country and in your community.

Global Perspectives on fishmongers

2010-04-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Fishmongers, whether members of the 13th century London system of guilds, foul-mouthed citizens in medieval France, or scruffy blue collars in Seattle are a unique bunch. They are people that know good fish and can pick it out, cut it, cook it, and talk your ear off about it. They are providers for a community that demands nutrition. Fishmongers are also found all over the planet and just this week, we were fortunate to learn a little about some fishmongers in Takoradi, Ghana on the Sea of Guinea.

After an email and introduction from Diana Lilla, an international management consultant, coach, educator and speaker located in the northwest, we met up with Gifty Baaba Asmah on her first visit to Seattle and trip outside her home country of Ghana. Gifty is the Director of a micro-finance organization called the Daasgift Quality Foundation that helps to bring possibility and success to the rural and urban poor. This lady and her stories will blow you away! The work she does, the lives she touches, and just who she is for her community are inspiring. To think that this woman wanted to see us was humbling.

Her organization has done a lot of work with fishmongers in Ghana and so she had to make our spot a stop on her visit to Seattle. Along with smoking and storing their fish, the fishmongers in Ghana must do their best to do so efficiently with the little money they have. They provide a valuable source of protein for a wildly underfed country. It's people like Gifty and Diana that provide structure and guidance for the fishmongers so that poverty and malnutrition can become less severe problems for the country. Presently, Gifty's organization has served over 3000 people and have 1000 active borrowers.

Well "fishmongering" for Gifty on this particular Wednesday meant everything from rooting through some of our specialty fish in the cooler with Anders, to selling some NW dungeness crab to throwing salmon and handing out smoked salmon samples in the corner with Erik. She leaves us with some stories and pictures to relay to her fishmongers and a copy of our book Catch so that hopefully our energy and intention can make sense for the people she works with back in Africa.

From energy conservation, to climate change to healthcare, poverty and starvation, Gifty and Diana are working towards world peace and we're honored to have had them at our stand and hopefully inspiring them to continue their work; I know they inspired us. Check out the websites for both women, they're changing the world for sure. This one details a work analysis Diana did about streamlining the fishing operations in coastal Ghana

miracles and the spacetime continuum

2010-04-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

So I've been to Portland once. Only once and between the coffee shop in the morning to the brewery at lunch to the relaxing afternoon I spent with a friend, that town can do no wrong for me. Bellingham, Washington I have been to a couple times and every time, I hit the same burrito place and the same bar. I keep the experience at these places limited and so they keep a pretty amazing place in my head. These are good times for me because they existed and well, ended. I know I can't eat burritos all day and if I spent all day in a brewery, I'd be broke and probably not in a state to do too much else. The point is, these are brief moments of greatness that exist in my mind, a lot like the flight of a fish from one guy to the other. This happens and it's over right? The throw, the flight, the catch. It's over and if you see it, you can now remember it (and the facial reactions to this one are still a big reason I work here). But in real life, the clock continues to tick and it's a new moment now...and now....and now.

What sparks this ontological questioning? Did I watch Back to the Future today? No. Have I been discussing the show LOST too much? Probably, but I will spare you and not draw any parallels. I bring this up because I am continually amazed at the space of our fish stand and how it just does not exist any where else. That's one thing but what's even more staggering is how simple it is what we do (often times because it's not what we do but rather who we BE when we do these things).

We talked about miracles at our last work meeting and how they happen and what is significant about their occurence. Somebody said they can usually be defined in hindsight. To recognize a miracle while it's happening is a rare occurence but when you think back to something, you can almost talk yourself into it being a miracle. "It happened and as quickly as it started, it was over". I look at some pictures on our facebook page and whether it's a couple that bought our first plastic gift card or it's one of Japan's most famous anime artists in Seattle as a keynote speaker for SakuraCon, it always started with "hello! you guys doing ok? Questions?".

I'm often asked who the most famous people people are that I've met at work. Even though David Beckham tops that list and I shamelesly couldn't help but speak in a demented Geico-gecko version of an accent to him knowing full-well he makes most women on the planet unable to stand, I also remember that his wife was across the street buying produce while I wrapped up halibut and dover sole as his kids caught a fish and he smiled like a proud father. This was a great experience but I also remember the two giant manila envelopes of mail we just got from Mrs. Brown's elementary school class in Hutchins, Texas asking us questions about our jobs and what we like about what we do. I remember days we had 40 pound king salmon on the display, I remember last week when we had 2.99 a pound buffalo and gaspergoo fish. These are all things in the past and they're over. All we have is now and all we have is to BE in the now.

I think what makes Pike Place Fish have so many miracles what makes my times in Bellingham and Portland so great for me are one in the same and that is awareness of who I am in the present and who we are as a creative space at 86 Pike Place.

The buddhist belief of nirvana is of a reality that knows no change, decay or death; too bad we don't live in that. Where we do live is our own individual reality to create and I know for me, it has peaks and valleys but when I choose to have fun in my reality, others want to too and when my buddy Ryan wants to sell some fish or some crab in his reality, sonofabitch someone shows up and buys a 20 pound case (none of us knows how he does this). So until Doc Brown, Marty McFly or the guys from LOST can control the reprecussions of our past actions in the time-space continuum, take these as reminders to get present and keep a mindful memory for miracles that may have happened...........and don't forget to celebrate them!

We throw seafood, you throw awards!

2010-03-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Check out the pasted material below from a website that voted us one of the top online providers of seafood!

http://seafood-market-review.toptenreviews.com/pike-place-fish-market-review.html

TopTenREVIEWS

By Tiff Carlson

Pike Place Fish Market is one of the most famous symbols of Seattle, WA, and is equally as well-known as a symbol for high-quality seafood market. Founded in 1965, transforming from a tiny fish stand into an international fish proprietor, they now ship their world famous fresh and frozen seafood to hungry customers across the country. From their Whole Cooked Dungeness Crabs to a straight-forward shipping policy, Pike Place Fish Market is a pedigree above the rest and is a must-see for any online seafood buyer.

Standout Features

Fresh Salmon, many specialty fish, Dungeness and King Crab and Caribbean Rock Lobster Tails
Gift and Party Packs
Specialty sauces and spices
Seafood tips and unique recipes

Since Pike Place Fish Market is based in Seattle and is therefore “close to the action,” in regards to procuring the freshest seafood around, it’s no wonder they’re well known for their Whole Cooked Dungeness Crab, King Crab, and most notably, their Wild Alaskan King Salmon Fillet (subject to availability). They also sell more unique items such as Caribbean Rock Lobster Tails and Live Hood Canal Yearling Oysters.

Pike Place Fish Market Screenshots

Inventory:

Pike Place Fish Market offers one of the most well-stocked inventories on our matrix (lacking only Octopus, Prepared Foods and Beef as items they don’t sell). They do however sell a variety of smoked Salmon jerky, canned Wild Salmon and jarred Oysters. Pike Place Fish Market is probably most known for the fresh Wild Alaskan King Salmon and Whole Cooked Dungeness Crab, but they sell much, much more, with a variety of raw shellfish, cooked shellfish (King Crab), specialty fish, whitefish and smoked seafood just a click away.

Some of the more unique raw shellfish they sell includes Caribbean Rock Lobsters at 24 oz/per, Alaskan Spot Prawns, Jumbo White Prawns, Sea Scallops, Live Penn Cove Mussels and Large Live Pacific Oysters. Their cooked shellfish collection includes King Crab Legs, cooked and deveined Shrimp and Smoked Mussels.

Extras:

Pike Place Fish Market offers many appreciated extras on their site. If you’re searching for a new way to prepare your seafood, their Recipes and Tips area will help you out and then some. They offer recipes for all types of seafood (Salmon, Halibut, Clams, Prawns, Mussels, Crab, Lobster, Scallops, Shrimp and Oysters), and they make sure the recipes they offer are top-notch. One of their most popular recipes is their Paella, a classic Spanish dish with rice, vegetables and seafood. Their preparation tips instruct buyers how to cook everything from Mussels to the perfect way to cook Crab.

Their Gifts and Party Packs are other fine extras that Pike Place Fish Market offers. Pike Place Fish Market has put a lot of thought in their gift packs and have several enticing options. Their “Rolls Royce Of The Sea Sampler” contains a 32 oz. Lobster Tail, 2lbs of King Crab and 1lb of their Jumbo White Prawns. They also sell singular item gifts such as an Oyster Knife or a Pike Place Fish Market T-shirt.

Their Fresh Gift Pack Sampler is a popular gift, and contains 9lbs of King Salmon, Dungeness Crab, Alderwood-smoked King Salmon, Salmon Basting Sauce, Tartar Sauce and Cocktail Sauce. Other gift boxes available include their Live Shellfish Sampler Pack and 20lb Case of Alaskan King Crab.

If you’re on the hunt for a specialty sauce, marinade and/or spice that’ll wow your family and friends, Pike Place Fish Market is just the place. Their world-famous Cocktail Sauce is one of their big condiment sellers, as is their slightly sweet Tartar Sauce. They also have more unique sauces such as their Cocktail Wasabi Sauce, Smoked Chipotle Sauce and Smoked Sweet Onion Sauce. And their regional spice mixes are fabulous. Their Northwest Seafood Seasoning and Our Own Rub spice mix will make your Wild King Salmon sing.

Pike Place Fish Market proffers high-quality seafood and has equally high-quality recipes (and preparation tips) on their site. They share more than two dozen of their favorite in-house recipes, with recipes for all types of seafood from Trout and Marlin to Oysters and Prawns. Some of their standout recipes include Poached Alaskan Salmon Piccata and Scallop and Shrimp Sambuca. If the recipe is from Pike Place, you know it’s good.

Customer Service:

If it wasn’t for their lack of site FAQs, Pike Place Fish Market would’ve easily received a perfect score (4.0) in the Customer Service category of our matrix. They provide both email and a toll-free phone number (local number available as well) for customers to contact them, as well as providing their mailing address and fax number at the bottom of the main page.

We also love their money-back guarantee. “Guaranteed fresh to your doorstep.” If UPS Overnight for whatever reason fails to deliver your order in a timely manner, Pike Place Fish Market will refund your order.

Shipping Options
Pike Place Fish Market ships all orders via UPS Overnight so that customers don’t need to be home to receive their order (unlike FedEx Overnight, which requires a signature upon delivery). Their shipping prices ($65 for the first 1-12lbs, and $3 for each pound over 12), includes 9lbs of packaging materials. They ship all fresh and frozen orders in a box lined with Styrofoam, with two reusable gel packs to keep the product cold.

Payment Methods
Pike Place Fish Market accepts all major credit cards - Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express - and they also accept Diners Club cards.

Community:

Pike Place Fish Market scored nearly a perfect rating (4.0) in this category, which is all about social networking and keeping your customers in the loop. Be sure to sign-up for Pike Place’s “Our World Famous Newsletter” for discount codes and to be kept abreast of what fresh seafood is currently in stock. Also on their site is their huge guestbook, where you can share your experiences or read hundreds of others experiences from past customers.

Pike Place Fish Market is also on Facebook and Twitter. Their Facebook page has thousands of fans and contains fun pictures of the famous “Pike Place Guys” (the ones who throw fish). And their Twitter account is full of sales and discounts, so be sure to follow that as well.

Summary:

Pike Place Fish Market is a legendary seafood market that ships beautiful Wild Alaskan Salmon, Specialty Fish and amazing Shellfish nationwide. Their delicious recipes and thorough Community features are just more reasons we are pleased to include Pike Place Fish Market among our top-rated Seafood Market Review sites.

the foundation

2010-03-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

Morning setups at Pike Place can take many forms. Our game is to be done and ready to go by 8am (new ice, rotation of product, new signs, etc...). We could just show up and go through the motions hoping that happens, but we don't. We huddle every day and discuss our intention; our commitment to the day as a foundation. It's an opportunity to get present with yourself and get present with your team. If something is on my mind keeping me from being with the day, I'll tell everyone (or get over it!). It may look the same and my actions may be the same, but I've never done it before this way today. This foundation doesn't just happen, it takes intention and it takes everyone being part of that "setup by 8" game.

Today was one of those unique days in that it wasn't the same crew standing around at 6:29 awaiting a huddle. It wasn't the coffee cup on the counter with talk of the Seahawks latest move, or a smoke on the sidewalk to exhale before work. Today had 20some high school students with shovels in their hands telling us about their Business club in St. Michael's Minnesota.

A couple things happen on days like this. I'm standing in Starbucks across the street with my coffee telling the barista about the crowd that has suddenly formed around my work. I really wanted a normal morning, I really wanted to shoot the shit about what I saw on Sportscenter, and I really am not pumped about all the cameras and onlookers awaiting the "show" at Pike Place Fish. Key to getting over this is knowing I have a choice. I need to get whether I'm going to stay in hiding mode and pretend I don't notice this massive group of kids who have read our books, watched our video and are here for an experience. I can be ordinary.

I can also embrace the fact that I just got 20 extra pairs of hands to help me get my shop setup by 8. The game isn't changed, it just has new players.
These kids don't have expectations, they don't want something specific from me, they're simply here. So as soon as that grumbling in my head begins and says to be ordinary, wanting a "normal" day and disengaged from what's present.......I snap out of it and enjoy an opportunity for a different foundation to my day. I walk out of Starbucks into the rain (ahhh, a cleanse from my negativity! ha!) and begin to find out why these kids and teachers are here and maybe what we can do to start our days with a new experience.

flexing mussels of the Northwest

2010-03-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

The town of Coupeville on Whidbey Island is an hour and a half away from our humble market. You can take a 20 minute ferry ride from Mukilteo, just north of Everett. Or you can head even farther and cross the breathtakingly high bridge over Deception Pass onto this quiet, and scenic Puget Sound island filled with mom and pop stores, road side stands, farms and on this particular weekend: mussel festivals.

Mussels are available year round and the folks at Penn Cove Shellfish deliver their bounty every single day. Since 1975, this operation has been sustainably farming and harvesting shellfish and amazingly delivering the goods within 24 hours to dinner plates worldwide. You can eat in Singapore and see "Penn Cove Mussels" on the menu!

With the temperatures in Seattle hitting near 65 and the sun shining, Saturday at Mussel Festival was more like a Grateful Dead show than a gathering in Coupeville. The boat tours were sold out, the mussel eating competition you couldn't get a seat or a view, and all the chowders in town were empty by early afternoon. Pictures from the event graced the front page of the Times and the shopkeepers and restauranteurs in Coupeville definitely had good nights of sleep on saturday night.

Sunday however, the overcast skies of March returned and Coupeville was back in it's element. Dogs sat outside tied to the trees as folks with spoons, cups and punch cards for the chowder tastings and "mussel hustle" took over Coupeville for a second day.
"I'm so glad we came today and not yesterday, I heard it was mobbed," said one sunday attendee. The defending champion chowder at the restaurant Oystercatcher was all smiles with the sunday crowds. "We added a little more ruttabega and carrots this year to up the veggie taste." said the owner. People who paid a couple dollars were given a punch card that allowed them to taste up to six different mussel chowders throughout the town. At the end, punch cards were turned and compiled to crown a new mussel chowder champion for 2010.

Toby's tavern had a line out the door,dalmation seals layed out on the mussel flats, Flyers brewery had the suds a flowin', and yes, Scott came up short for year number two in the mussel eating competition.
"Although it was nice to see a fellow Pike Place friend, he looked a little nervous and that's not how you win an eating competition," said Place Pigalle owner Seth. Pigalle keeps mussels as a big presence on their menu and really seemed to be enjoying seeing the other side of their food.

We've only just begun....

2009-12-14T08:03:00.000-08:00

December 13th brought a few things for Pike Place Fish Market. Doug Strauss, a longtime fishmonger, school teacher, basketball coach, and now foundation administrator was throwin' crab and shoveling ice as if he'd never missed a beat. Holiday shoppers milled about in the snow as Faith the two-legg ed dog and her family showed up! The weather and the atmosphere was one thing to remind us but so is that ominous stack of shipping orders watching over our display awaiting their trip through the maze of UPS to the doorsteps of thousands.

The holidays here bring a large amount of shipping orders, which means pallets of boxes, mountains of tape and cardboard, and but a small army of committed and intentional fishmongers at 86 Pike Place.
"The foundation keeps me so busy, but it's a lot of head work and a lot of sitting in front of a computer...so when I got the call from Sammy, I said 'I'll be there,'" said Doug. "I want to work and shovel and move!" And not only did he not miss a beat with the mechanics of fish and crab aerodynamics, but Doug always brings some inspiration to the crew with who he chooses to be for others in life and when at the shop. "Pumped to be back at the PPFM for a few days!"

The UPS trucks will be at our mercy starting today so look out. We have fresh crab and both wild and farm raised King Salmon, times are good! Ship it early folks, as much as we love UPS, we don't want people sitting at their dinner table waiting for that beloved, brown truck.

Alan Gordon of the LA Galaxy

2009-11-22T11:57:00.001-08:00

American soccer stars throw a fish during MLS Cup 2009

2009-11-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

From our first exposure to maybe our biggest yet

2009-11-20T17:36:00.000-08:00

Back in the early 90s, the Goodwill Games came to Seattle. The Goodwill Games, over the course of its 16 year existence, helped launch careers of a couple thousand athletes from over probably 100 countries. It was a brainchild of Ted Turner as a way to ease Cold War tensions and did a lot of good in the world. Serving also as one of the launching off points of the "world fame" of Pike Place Fish, the Goodwill Games helped bring a whole heckuva lot of attention to a group of well-intentioned authentic fishmongers. Any Fishguy or BizFutures presentation you hear from us these days includes the story of our bi-weekly dinner meeting back in the late 80's where we said "let's be world famous fishmongers" and we all laughed.......only to have Goodwill Games cameras in our faces throwing fish and then every following day having strangers show up asking "where do they throw fish?"

Well it's now almost 20 years after such exposure and not only are we on film for a sport, but Friday November 20th put us on a stage with the world's game of "futbol" or in the US: Major League Soccer. Playing host to the MLS Cup between Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy, Seattle began opening it's arms this week when soccer games burst out in the street from guerilla marketers and people NOT wearing cleats on the street felt to be in the minority.

With all due respect to the Goodwill Games, this is not a gathering of people playing games to "ease tensions" or to "spark discussion", this is the most popular sport played on the planet. ESPN and US Soccer Legend John Harkes will broadcast what they shot today to approximately 122 countries. The MLS is a league that plays host for players from all corners of the globe. These players play for American cities, European clubs, African nations, and from Universities all over. Basically, we have cameras here every day but Friday there were about 30 cameras that were legit media outlets filming us throwing fish to soccer stars. Funny stuff. We usually have people catch a fish, wash their hands and maybe get a picture. Today, we had custom made aprons from the MLS, we had about 3 cameras behind the counter and 25 out front all filming for TV and we had two pro players Chris Seitz and Alan Gordon essentially trying to "score" a salmon past the other as a sea of people clogged up the entire corner of 1st and Pike yelling about the match on Sunday. There were industry-types and marketing specialists sweating as these dead animals hurdled through the air and flashes lit up everyone's face like we were shooting a feature film. "First class you guys, thank you!" said the marketing team from MLS. I think they expected a bunch of surly and bitter dudes who would resist crowds but they got the fishguys from Pike Place!

The history of soccer and it's place in America always seems to get a bum-rap but since it's arrival in Seattle there has been nothing but uproarious welcome and enthusiasm. The Seattle Sounders made the playoffs as a first-year expansion squad and sold out every single match setting a new MLS record for attendance at over 30,000 seats per game (most MLS clubs only get about 11,000 per game). I write this on Friday and usually do these updates when inspiration visits. The match isn't until Sunday so watch out for more and know your chances of avoiding the fishguys in the media is getting more and more slim. Soccer is getting exciting and that we could be part of all this before the Cup is pretty exciting. Keep here and on facebook for a video of all the happenings from the weekend.

Auctioning ourselves off like pieces of.......Fish!

2009-10-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, October 10th, veteran fishmongers Ryan "Yoko" Yokoyama and Chris "Cheddar" Bell stood proud for us fishmongers at Pike Place and helped raise some excitement for the local Seattle non-profit People for the Puget Sound and their annual Harbor Lights Auction. Amassing over 575 guests at the Fremont Studio here in Seattle, the auction had both live and silent items up for bid, including ours which was a dinner for 10 people to be cooked at a place of their choice. Yoko and Cheddar ran throughout the crowd in those goofy orange pants throwing those tasty salmon all over that auction making us a tough act to follow. "I wanted Governor Gregoire to catch one, but instead I chucked it right over her head!" said Cheddar.

"I think it's great to get out and support people like PFPS because what they do is support what we do to keep the waters around here healthy. We don't have a business without the advocacy that they provide," said Yoko. "It's our livelyhood really."

Cheddar added "yeah, it's a little odd sometimes to run around while people are eating and throw fish so close to them but hey, it breaks up the reality a bit and everyone gets to have fun. 's really not that different than what we do at the market. Kinda nice to take it somewhere else and be so well received."

The Harbor Lights Auction and the "Party for Puget Sound" raised more than $236,000!
People for Puget Sound is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, working since 1991 to restore and protect the Sound and Northwest Straits. The Puget Sound Business Travel Association is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is the collective voice of business travel mangament in Western Washington.

Peace One Day

2009-09-06T13:54:00.001-07:00

This gathering of commitments is exactly the kind of thing we get excited about with our intention of Peace and Prosperity for all as an idea whose time has come. With our new "brochures" that talk more about who we are what we stand for than what we sell, we wanted to spotlight this day and film!

Heat in July, not much news there!

2009-07-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

Man the news sucks! I'm not sure how to say it in blog-speak or how to "properly" do it but the news media just sucks sometimes. Whether it's propagating negativity about our "poor" economy or making us all believe that we should be affected by something completely unrelated, they continually choose to focus on negativity.

News is news and we realize a lot of people aren't completely jazzed by what they do everyday and need something to chew on over dinner, but we at the fish market are not like that. We are who we are because we acknowledge these things as elements that make up the whole thing and choose a more positive and fun path. Back in December when the city of Seattle was held hostage by ice and snow and all the reporters couldn't write about anything but our mayor's apparent inability to act, we were doing jumping jacks in our Grundens, driving to the airport and creating a package brigade so people got their fish for the holidays.

Today it was pushing 103 degrees and we were opening up our cooler for local businesses supplying them with ice, having oyster shooter parties out front,(even Mariner's First Baseman Russell Branyan showed up yesterday to hang out and throw a fish( and selling fish like it's July and we are world famous Pike Place Fish. The local news station was down the way at our competitors spot drying their tears because their apparent "woes" for the heat was news. Guess what, they didn't come to us because we were too busy selling! "Oh, Pike Place Fish has a crowd and they're throwing fish because they're selling fish, let's go and report on how lame business is down the way because of the heat!" Wow. Once again, generating what we want and how we want to experience the day will always win. The weather will do what it wants (shovel more ice!), whether it's icey and 4 degrees or sweltering and 103, we only have the choice to be who we want when it happens. We separated ourselves again today and man did the beer taste good at 6:30 when we closed!

Talking Furniture?

2009-07-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

We're on the radio........in Montana! Anders and Scotty did a three part interview with the AM radio crew outside Bozeman and now it's available online to hear. Johnny also did a two part interview the week before so check them all out right here:

http://liveandloverichly.com/LiveRichlyRadioShow.php

Here is some info about Leslie and her organization in Montana:

About Leslie

Leslie Cunningham, CTACC
Coach Training Alliance
Certified Coach

How My Husband and I Got Out of Debt, Got on the Same Page and Started Building Wealth

I came into this work shortly after my husband and I were married. Like many newlyweds, we did many things that caused us to go into debt. I quit my secure job to spend time on the road with my husband, who is a professional singer/songwriter.

This was an amazing time for both of us. We then honeymooned in New Zealand and had some wonderful adventures that still cause me to laugh and fill me with joy when I think about them.

Eight months later, when we came home, I remember walking back to the house after collecting the afternoon mail. I started flipping through the envelopes. I saw a credit card statement, another credit card statement and our bank statements. It was in that moment that I felt a deep tension in the pit of my stomach.

I realized that even though I had married the man that I absolutely loved and adored, I really didn’t have a clear sense of how he handled money and how the two of us were going to blend our different approaches to handling money in our marriage. I was very organized, detailed and more frugal with money. He was more of a laid-back free spirit type. I also knew that getting on the same financial page was a key factor in creating a successful marriage and financial future.

Going Out On a Limb

I asked my husband if he would be willing to set up a time each week to talk about our finances and develop a plan for getting rid of our credit card debt (we had acquired over $43,300 in credit card debt over a three year period). My husband said he would be willing to do this. He was skeptical—but willing.

We came to refer to our weekly meetings with each other as our Financial Dates. After we would complete a Financial Date, both of us felt surprisingly uplifted and empowered.

As a result of having our Dates we completely paid off all of our credit card debt within two years, started funding our retirement accounts, quit arguing about money, gained a solid understanding of our cash flow and created a spending plan that both of us were motivated to stick to. That was just the tip of the iceberg. And you know what—those changes didn’t really surprise me that much.

What completely surprised me was the synergy that my husband and I experienced when working together to achieve our financial goals and dreams. We wouldn’t have experienced this in our relationship had we not come together with a unified goal of improving our finances as a team—not individually, but as a team. This added an entirely new dimension to our relationship. I began to think of these Financial Dates as our own holistic approach to money and marriage success.

“Leslie, It’s Imperative That You Share This with the World!”

I was sharing the details of one of our Financial Dates with my mentor coach at the time, and she stopped me in mid-sentence, and exclaimed, “Leslie, you have so much excitement and passion around this Financial Dating concept and it’s an amazing idea. You have got to share it with the world!”

So with her encouragement, I completed my training to become a professional certified coach so that I could teach this process to others. I received my credentials through Coach Training Alliance, which is accredited through the International Coaching Federation. I then began to teach our Financial Dating Process to other couples.

Financial Dating® Created Financial Success for Other Couples

I remember one particular call I received from a man on a cold Montana day. He sounded overwhelmed and frustrated. He said, “Leslie, I heard about you through a friend of mine and you sound exactly like the person that we’re looking for. I really want to talk to you about finances and how to make this work in our marriage.” I invited him to attend a Financial Dating class I was teaching.

After the class he walked me outside and said, “You are the person that we’ve been praying for. I walked out of the house last week and it was the worst fight that my wife and I had had, and I swore to her, I promised her that I would find somebody who could help us, and you’re that person.”

I put together a Financial Dating class and he got together several other couples and I started teaching them how to have Financial Dates. One year later he shared with me that for the first time in 14 years he and his wife had finally put a clamp on the internal hemorrhaging in their finances. They willingly changed their destructive money behaviors, stopped charging to their credit cards, paid off $13,779 of debt, put $4,879 into an emergency savings account and saved over $51,200 in interest by transferring a personal loan. He also shared that he felt significantly closer to his wife. If they could do it, you can too.

Living a Fulfilling Life that’s in Alignment with Our Deeply Held Values

I have come to realize that successful money management is so much more than just paying off debt, buying a new home and stashing more money away in our retirement accounts. True financial success is about living a life that is in alignment with our most cherished values. It’s easy to say that we value our health, marriage, children, friends and family. But when we step back and look at how we spend our time and money, we’ll see that we often don’t spend it on the things that are most important to us. There’s nothing like money to easily pull us off track.

We have to stop and define what financial success means to us. I believe that true financial success is about having a life that is filled with life enriching experiences and time for the relationships that really matter. That means slowing down and not working so hard. Financial success is about the lives we touch and the lasting memories we make. It’s about spending less, giving more and living more.

The Financial Dating® Success Program

Leslie Cunningham is the creator of Financial Dating, a proven and revolutionary money management system that helps couples create financial freedom, connection, and success. When we are able to move beyond our limiting beliefs, limiting money behaviors and our reactive way of interacting with our partners, we find that it is possible to get rid of debt, get on the same page and build wealth with our partners.

Leslie helps clients get in touch with their deepest values and use those values to manage their finances in a holistic way—so they end up not just with more money, but also with a richer experience of life. The Financial Dating Success Program empowers couples to get their finances in order and start living their ideal lifestyle now—instead of putting it off until they’ve obtained wealth at some future date.

Leslie is a sought after speaker and dynamic coach who specializes in teaching couples how to transform their financial weaknesses into strengths. She is passionate about helping couples live richly by turning their financial and lifestyle stress into inspired action.

Your Next Step

Click here to read What Clients Say and learn about the break-through results they've achieved with Leslie's private coaching and programs.

One man's interpretation

2009-06-18T19:37:00.001-07:00

After some negotiating, we agreed to be part of this video. We did not have final cut, we did not help edit. We are in the world to make a positive difference. We hope that PETA is too. Operating in a context of peace, we're presenting to the veterinarians on teamwork, commitment and intention.

Yo Son!

2009-06-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

Good to get all this PETA out of the way.
Also good to get involved with some fun stuff here in Seattle. This Saturday up in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, we will be feeding the masses to help celebrate the one year anniversary of a small, shoe and t-shirt business that focuses on hard-to-find and limited release sneakers.

We love tourists, man do we love them. But locals are great people too and when we team up with things happening here in Seattle, it really makes a difference for us. After all the hollering and throwing, we do have lives here (some of us) in this great city and enjoy our place in the community. We're happy when we have loyal, local customers who bypass the crowds and happy when they invite us to be part of what they're doing; in this case a one year anniversary of their sneaker boutique. If you're in town, head up Pike street for some grub and beats at Rock, Paper Scissors!

wow PETA

2009-06-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

"no comment" says four year fishmonger Ryan Rector as a member of the Associated Press walks by. Usually we see cameras here for tourist film roll or maybe an obscure commercial or just a picture or two for an upcoming sports event.......but today apparently we're all just bad people for doing what our mothers always told us not to: throw our food.

We're having fun and we respect the stuff we sell (why wouldn't we, it pays our living!).
Check it out and please provide your own candid comments for our lovely Komo4 News!

Here is one choice member's words:
"Hey PETA: I often toss live mussels and clams into a pot with some clam broth, vegetables and seasoning, crank up the heat, wait for all the tiny screams to stop and then eat them.

Sue me. "

The Story
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/47410357.html

Two years a fishmonger

2009-06-04T22:15:00.000-07:00

Scotty's story on coming to Pike Place Fish Market....more monger tales to come.

I parked my car under the viaduct on Alaskan Way because that is the only place I had been in Seattle. I walked up the Pike Street Hillclimb because that was the only way I knew how to get to the market. I vaguely remember the voice on the other end of the phone a few days before saying to get there around 8. It was 7:45 Monday morning and I was shaking. Just walk up and say hi, they'll totally remember you. Oh man, they're busy. Who looks like they're in charge, I'll grab them. Maybe I should just forget it. No, go introduce yourself.

I had just spent the night on a friend of a friend's floor in Seattle after arriving the night before. All that I owned was in the back of my car, including a bike without a front wheel (that had somehow danced off my roof rack somewhere around Portland, Oregon). On the road from Pennsylvania (home in Lancaster) by way of Colorado (friend's graduation, alma mater visit to Colorado College) and a Memorial Day weekend ultimate frisbee tournament in Bozeman, Montana.......my wallet and I were ready for the next step (desperate may be the word).

I had watched the FISH Video, seen the Real World episodes, and properly built up the Northwest to be quite the utopia of mountains, oceans, beaches, and oh yes.....fulfilling work places (the city supports a fish market that espouses a "philosophy", that's gotta say something). I saw the fish market as a place probably with a grueling, long and arduous interview process. You're on stage, you have books, you travel, you get to be in pictures, this is not a job for the average young kid looking to make a buck. Maybe I can get in as an intern if I say I'm hip to their philosophy and drop some lines about being present and "making a difference". Well as in many things in this short life, they're never as they are in your head.

I step in a puddle while almost running into like three guys. My backpack is soaked and I have a hard time hearing the question or believing it to be a real question when Sam asks me "do you have any injuries?". The place is known around the world, it shows up in magazines, newspapers, Harvard business journals and the first question they ask an "applicant" is if they have any injuries? Then it sets in that a lot of work has been done and it's not even 8am. There is a helluva lot of fish already displayed. They guy who I just bumped into almost knocked me straight on my ass. Oh yeah, this is a busy, outdoor fish market in the middle of Seattle. The philosophy stuff will come later I guess, I better just let him know I'm not a powderpuff first. "No sir, no injuries sir" I say progressively louder until I hear myself and wonder if I really am that militaristic. Sam laughs and tells me to chill out and talk in the back room. Not chilling out at all, I follow and begin to freak out about this potential "interview".

Sitting on an overturned milk crate in a room that feels like a closet filled with boxes, sweatshirts, rubber boots, Grundens fish waders, and a small computer in the corner, I meet Dicky who I now remember is the one I talked to two days before when I was calling from a payphone in a parking lot in Eugene, Oregon. "I don't remember. Dah well, you're here now. D'you want to work?" he says. Now all my career counseling sessions at the ivory tower school in the rockies told me about the importance of hand shakes with eye contact, bullet points with consistent verbage on the resume, and following up after making contact......but no where did they say what to do if the first question is "do you want the job?" I was looking for the hidden cameras and decided to keep my why-you-should-hire-me speech for another time and just take the opportunity.

So to round out the beginnings of his venture, the first order I took from someone over the counter I was holding in my hand and yet still yelled out that it was "going to Montana" as I got bulldozed by three guys (one of which sat on my back and yelled about it while getting a round of applause and thunderous laughter).

2. Some kids on a scavenger hunt asked me about what it meant to work there and I about started crying cause I couldn't give them an answer that would fit in the amount of space they had.
3. I was choking down my fifth cup of coffee at 10:30am on the sidewalk when a Seattle DuckBoat tour drove past while honking, waving and taking my picture yelling "hey fishguy!".
4. On my second day, I ran across a billboard for a bank that said "it was like only yesterday that you threw your first fish" and I was grabbing strangers telling that it was ACTUALLY yesterday that I did that.

Those are some highlights and if you've read this long, I applaud you. Since then, I've traveled to Houston and addressed a room of 300 physical therapists about what it means to work here. I've been in a room with 10 high school guidance counselors telling them why we are the way we are. I've sold a fish for over $800 and I've sold scraps of salmon bones for 50 cents. I've stood outside in 10 degree weather for a twelve hour work day and I've gotten sunburnt on my left arm from staking out the Alaska Airlines Cargo lot in our truck for our fish from the Copper River. I've thrown fish synchronized with the Seattle symphony and I've had my picture pop up in magazines, emails, and web picture galleries.

At the end of the day though, I go home smelling like sweat, fish an probably have one too many beers. I don't spend my nights on that friend's couch anymore and I even have a dog now. My hands are like sandpaper and I have probably said some pretty off color stuff in public settings. But I sell fish and I have fun doing it because I say so and because my coworkers are commited to that too. We are our own commitment and we are our buddy's commitment; wholes in alignment. If you've ever experienced that, you know what I mean. This experience is not over for me and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Today is June 4th and two years ago on this day I fell asleep at 7:30 because it was my first day at Pike Place Fish.

a market character

2009-05-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

We get some characters here at Pike Place I won't lie. From the guy who picks old coffee cups out of the trash cans, to the Johnny Cash singin' buskers on repeat and the couples holding their wine glasses while exiting the limo for whom recession means nothing. We love them all and recognize it as one of the primary charms of an outdoor, year-round public market.

Now Michael Kennedy does not pick up other's trash and he didn't get dropped on our stoop by a stretch limo, but man is this guy a legend already. I'm cleaning out the cooler after a trip to the airport as always. shoveling ice and grabbing garbage bins. I'm cutting cardboard and rippin' through it like a mad man with a knife and all the sudden, this cat with business clothes under the iconic Grundens fish waders grabs stuff and starts telling me to go faster! "Give me something heavy to lift! What do you need man? I'm here to help" I knew we didn't hire a new guy but I did remember a care package delivered to us with pictures, a hand written note and some gifts from the Scion car company signed "Kennedy".

Kennedy has seen the FISH video, he's read the books and after a brief phone call a couple years ago with veteran fishmonger Dan Bugge (now of Matt's in the Market) he showed up to work a little bit ever since. Dan said "you want the real experience and to know what we're about, show up to work".

So Kennedy cleaned, he wrapped fish, he sent us goofy pictures, he shook hands with strangers and went home with inspiration for his daily "grind" (in his case, working with Scion cars). Here is a blip from an email he sent to his team:

From Salmon to Scion: A Study in Outrageous Customer Engagement

The Growl is Alive and Well in Seattle, WA. Who have YOU growled with lately?

Everything they do, say and think is aligned to move in that direction. Let's us continue to do our part!

What a blast. If they can make a ton of money working in the damp, cold market... and have people visit them from all around the world to photograph and video them selling dead fish... by God, we can achieve the same results selling Scions (or anything else for that matter).

Amdassadors for Good Things

2009-05-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

Copper River is an actual river. A 300 mile river near Cordova, Alaska. Did you know that? The fish from this river usually have tags signifying their authenticity. They are big fish. They are fatty, oily, and sometimes expensive fish. The Copper River Delta, which extends for 700,000 acres (2,800 km²) is the considered the largest contiguous wetlands along the Pacific coast of North America. I don't want to sound like a PBS pledge drive, but if you've been waiting all year to buy your salmon, now is the time to do it. The kings are big and tasty and the sockeyes are the first run of the year so wild fish are here to stay for the summer months! Although we're not Pike Place Salmon market (we do sell things like buffalo fish, trout, rockfish, crabs, the list goes on..) we do get pretty amped about this particular salmon. It gets busy around here for that fish and ho man do we like that! You can pre order and have Scotty hand pick your fish off the back of his truck at the airport.

What better way to ring in the new fish season than to get some good old fashioned press? We love us some tourists and it shows apparently. Besides the larger than life size photo of Justin in a window display up Pike St., the group Tourism Matters made a real effort this year to emphasize the importance of visitors to our city and commerce. Capped by a gathering of around 300 at Westlake Center, Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau rolled out the red carpet for us. Justin went up to the gathering for us and accepted the award for Seattle Tourism Ambassador of the Year for 2009.

"It's not so much what we do at Pike Place Fish for tourists, it's more about who we are and what we want to be for ourselves and for where we work and live. This is our city and we want people to want to be here so that is basically what governs, ya know......walkin' down the street and picking up a piece of trash or asking someone if they need help with directions"

We love what we do, it's not an act. We are having fun at work because we want to have fun with our day and our life. We sell awesome stuff and make this one of a kind market come alive, what's not to love?

low flying fish for the man in the Tuxedo!

2009-05-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

After 12 hours of talking with people, cutting fish, shoveling, yelling, talking on the phone, what do you think we do?
I'm sure we can all have our ideas of what a fishmonger does in his free time, but for one particular evening last week, I'll flat out tell you it didn't involve binge drinking, swapping tales of the sea, or tying up holes in our nets for the next day's "catch" (sorry to bust up your fantasy, but we don't fish too much).

Yes, this night involved black ties, elaborate lighting, a full orchestra, a composer named Mateo and a big thank you to the top donors of Children's Hospital of Seattle at WaMu Theater. Everyone's time was a donation that Thursday including the musicians (an orchestra and Natalie Cole) the Starbucks barista who made lattes to the beat, and the eight of us who threw fish to Mateo "Matt" Messina's piece for the evening "low flying fish". Although the event was not a benefit, we all knew why we were there and why we said "hell yes" when Mateo asked us to be part of it. "A lot of these people who are here are not from here in Seattle and don't know you guys are in the presentation so just have fun and I know it will be contagious!" said Messina.

We fishmongers were reprising a performance that we did three years ago for Messina at a similar event at Benaroya Hall for Children's Hospital. He travels the world, scores movies and composes full symphonies, and now a new bullet point on his resume includes coreographing eight tatooed, exhausted and smelly fishmongers from downtown Seattle.

The yelling and energy that we bring to our work is one thing but when our "work" is brought to a new audience in a new context, you know we're somewhere in the right ballpark of our intentions. 12 years ago, Dicky said "why not Pike Place Fish the movie?" and the next week, Free Willy showed up and the folks from Charthouse made the best selling training video in the world. Recently, we said World Peace and our own backyard of Seattle Children's Hospital is an awesome place to start! Who knows where you'll pop up when you work at a fishmarket right?

Changing Now, Forever

2009-05-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

A new guest at our bimonthly meeting last week brought something different to the table. Not just his appetite and some laughs, but Justin's brother Chuck came to us asking for support for a new movement. I don't want to summarize too much for fear of simplifying the message, but we at Pike Place Fish are partnering up with Chuck, Michael Beckwith and an organization called "Changing Now, Forever".

Here are some words from the site giving an idea of what we're talking about:

Featuring Michael Bernard Beckwith, renowned spiritual leader and teacher of The Secret

By now most of us have been made aware of The Secret and its simple but sublime message of believe, act, receive. And all of us have been exposed to the adage "there's no time like the present." Genesis Global, a center for spiritual living, is combining both to bring a new paradigm of goodness to Seattle and the world at large -- beginning today.

Good stuff, but most important is that some events are showing up for us in our new set of intentions for world peace. We improved our logo, put it on our shirts and our hats and now we can get involved with a group doing some great work toward a new goal for world peace!

fishing for new media

2009-04-24T15:02:00.001-07:00

although the resistance from some here at Pike Place Fish to throw some money at that thing they call the "internet" way back when was quite high.......we're diving back in for technology. The blog was one thing, but now you can even find us on facebook and twitter ("fishguys"). We like beers after work, we like our rough hands and now in the vein of change in 2009, we like the computer!

We're all about experience here and for those that can't come to the market in Seattle, we want to do our best to deliver the experience of being here to you. The kids are using facebook and twitter, so why the hell not right? There you can follow us just like here but even better, you can add your own content like pictures, links, comments and all kinds of good stuff.

Stay up with the times, maybe some day we'll all have phones buried in our wrists and all we have to do is think about fish and it'll appear but for now, we're gonna stick to what we know and explore the new stuff to see if it's worth it. Let us know!

World Famous Globetrotters

2009-04-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Although we as fishmongers have traveled the world with our "antics" and message of joy, fun, peace and presence.....we are but minor players when set next to a group like the Harlem Globetrotters. A mere 82 years are under their belt as "Ambassadors of goodwill" on this planet. We like a lot of things here at the market but combining forces with like minded people can't get much better. We like attention, they like attention, I won't lie and say there wasn't a bit of a struggle for the spotlight that day. That and a whole heck of a lot of yelling, positive energy and smiles around.

As they tour the northwest hitting Seattle (Key Arena Saturday April 25th) and some other spots in British Columbia, they will take their energy, fun and basketball skills to anyone and everyone. Last week, that included us at Pike Place Market and on King5 news the next morning.
Cameras, kids, and a special appearance from Globetrotter legend Fred "Curly" Neal made that day a special one for us all. All of us had our special memories of Curly we wanted to share with him (I mean, this guy goes waaaay back!). He's played over 6,000 games in 97 countries and just happened to pencil us in, awesome! Also, it appears, he may just be more bald than our shipping manager Jeremy.

Also in attendance was Big Easy Lofton who helped display yet another use for King Crab legs (nice try Scott, but you're just an amateur).

A Guest Blogger

2009-03-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

This is a blog post by Antonio Neves, host of MSN.com program called "Cool Runnings".
Although we hassled him and called him Tracy Morgan for most the day, he took it well and worked hard. He and his crew worked with us and followed us around on one February day in 2009. Check out the videos they compiled here:
http://businessonmain.msn.com/

Pike Place Fish: The Inside Scoop on Becoming World Famous

A Blog by Antonio Neves

On the surface, the open-air Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle is what you tend to expect. A diverse spread of fresh fish, fishmongers playfully barking at — and entertaining — customers and, of course, flying fish, crab and lobster tails. But beneath the surface is a team and philosophy that go beyond any newspaper headline or story.

As legend has it, when Pike Place Fish Market almost went out of business in the mid-1980s, it was saved when an employee said it should become “world famous.” Over the course of the next few years, that’s exactly what Pike Place Fish Market did. But for the life of me I couldn’t fathom what being “world famous” meant. Moreover, how does being “world famous” translate to success and, more important, more revenue? I asked members of the whole team what being “world famous” meant to them and, surprisingly, no one mentioned anything regarding fish or sales numbers. The varied answers all hinged on a consistent theme: Making a difference in the lives of others. Yes, these tough guys who sell fish want to make your life better. Whether while unloading fish from a truck at 6 a.m., entertaining customers or cleaning up at the end of the day, they’re not just making someone’s day — they’re working to change the world. It all starts with them and a choice they make every morning when they wake up.

To read more from Antonio, go here to follow his blog
http://businessonmain.msn.com/knowledgeexchange/articles/salesandmarketing.aspx?cp-documentid=18684152

Who said winter is dead?

2009-03-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

Ask anyone that works in the market and they'll love to tell you that business dies during the winter months (isn't it so easy to chime in on negativity?!) but at the special spot behind Rachel the Market foundation piggy bank, special things occur. The last blog post was a battle cry and this one will serve as evidence to let you know that we are in fact, being who we say we are.
We at the fish market refuse to stand still and react to all the crap in the world like recessions, cold weather and general complacency with the way the things are. That may be the way a lot of people are seeing the world but not us, we don't buy it. We get that people just want company for their bad moods but we've never gotten where we are doing things in an ordinary fashion.

The last week in February, Erik, Scott, Jim (our BizFutures consultant) and Johnny went to Houston to meet with over 250 employees of Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. A standing ovation, an open invitation to join our movement for World Peace and some driving adventures through rural Texas and we now all know that we will be sticking around for as long as we say so. To get that many people who are doctors, physical therapists and succesful business professionals to touch dead fish in the middle of their work day and participate in a dialogue of communication and living a life of intention was pretty special. The people that make up Memorial Hermann are changing peoples' lives every moment of every day and we were honored to share our story and hear theirs. To still be doing presentations like this with such a timeless message and have people still out there with a listening for the principles that guide our everyday is just awesome.

As far as our winter at 86 Pike Place, we've been throwing hats onto peoples' heads, throwing fish into peoples' hands, heading to mussel farms (for the Penn Cove Musselfest), getting married in Hawaii, and continually bringing in wild salmon, fresh dungeness crabs and generating the energy and environment that we've always done (it's worked pretty well so no need to change too much!)

I'm not lying, this couple from Des Moines, Washington were buying salmon to feed their turtles! We like what we sell cause we always say "everyone has to eat" but this is an added bonus for which we could never plan.

Lisa Ling takes a break from world traveling, The View and Oprah to have some fun at our fish market! After some expert coaching from Taho, she caught the fish on her first attempt.

Yes, Kenny G has been spotted many times in Seattle. With all the music venues like The Triple Door, Jazz Alley and public radio stations like KEXP and KPLU, the rainy city is a hotspot for musicians of all interests. Here, he finds his long lost brother fishmonger Jaison Scott (who is now in Hawaii getting married!)

Johnny the boss got his salmon and crab dinner, then took a few minutes for the Microsoft Network (MSN) and a show they were filming about businesses who are continuing on in '09. After a 4:30 call, they were ready with cameras setup at 6am and rolling until our group meeting at Tai Tung Restaurant that night at 9pm. Not only did they ride in the truck with Scotty to get fish, but the host threw on the Grundens and learned to select, weigh, cut and package his very own King salmon. We don't know when the feature will air, but keep posted to see the previews, we know it will be a bit different from the 11 year old "customer service" video many of you may have seen.

And to add one last bit, many of us here in Seattle have been a bit distraught with the performance of our sports here in the northwest. I won't even go into the details about the Sonics basketball history, the Seahawks dismal '08 or the UW football program, but one bit of hope on the horizon that we hope to be part of is the new professional soccer team Seattle Sounders FC. With the greatest coach in the country (Siggi Schmidt), a great pickup from Sweden, and over 20,000 season tickets already sold (including five to Scotty and Jeremy here at the fish market), we are pumped for the world's game here in Seattle. We love being part of the community here and we know they all need the good fats and oils of fresh salmon to maintain optimal athletic performance.
The phrase "choose your attitude" or "change your conversation" are repeated a lot around here but sometimes it's pretty frickin' nice when something good happens to the general climate that makes you happy (it's a lot easier that way) and the Sounders have already brought that to the city of Seattle.

We're Still Here

2009-02-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

There is a band out of Minnesota called The Hold Steady that released a record last year called "Stay Positive". Frequently lauded as a band that speaks truth of a generation and also keeps authenticity of the guitar, bass, drums setup of rock music, their lyrics are always something to examine. The title track off that record speaks well to us now in 2009 as we all enter a new phase in history.

"cause its one thing to start it with a positive jam
and its another thing to see it all through
and we couldn't of even done this if it wasn't for you
we gotta stay positive"

The chorus of "We gotta stay positive" is something we all remind ourselves of here at the fish market during the winter months. After the ruckus of the holiday shipping season, some of us take vacations, we cut down our hours, and the 12 hour days can become a mind game as we stand in the cold adjusting to the new speed of our work day.

What we at Pike Place Fish have always done is take that next step and "see it all through" because we really don't want to be ordinary. We each individually must make a profound relationship with the way things are and create possibilities from the present. When we get stuck on things like weather, the amount of people in the market, the competition, whatever it may be.......we've taken ourselves out of our own game.

Economic times are what they are and the news can be downright depressing. What happens though is the true, honest and authentic organizations will emerge from this even stronger. These times are but an opportunity to be the safe, fun environment of energy and enthusiasm that we stand for. We take a stand for ourselves to inspire others...and sell great fish!

An NPR affiliate and college, public radio station in Colorado, KRCC, had their pledge drive fall right at the beginning of this recent downturn and they feared the worst. Everyone at that station had to make a choice that they wouldn't buy into it. They not only hit their goal but their station manager actually made them "slow down" so they could continue their pledge drive programming.
Michael Franti is a musician who started out fired up about social injustice and political corruption. After a series of records expressing that, he found himself nowhere different from where he started and was just as mad. He made a choice to celebrate humanity and what's possible and began a world movement with the joy of gathering for peace and understanding across country borders. He now has documentaries about his mission for peace in Iraq, Gaza and all over the world.

For us, we're not starting radio stations, traveling to Palestine or writing songs about positivity, but we are generating for who we want to be in 2009. Like the country as a whole, we can't continue our old ways. We cleaned house and have the best crew we've ever had. We took a stand for better fish (and we got wild king salmon and fresh crabs everyday in January!). What we are doing though is generating a new video (one that's ours, not Charthouse Learnings). We have new avenues for discussion with people in Europe about our technology of Being from Bizfutures. We are developing our charity work with People for the Puget Sound and the Jacob Greene Foundation.

We want this world to be better and now that we've taken that stand, we are it and we want our actions to follow. More details about these things will be in the future, but know that that the wheels are turning and we will always STAY POSITIVE!

Holidays at the fish market

2008-12-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

We all find ourselves on the brink of greatness. On the brink of seafood serenity, on the brink of stupendous shipping, on the brink of a helluva holiday..........

on the brink of a day off!

Of the past 14 days, a majority of us have shown up every single day to work 12 hours. I'm sure there are nurses and doctors out there saying "wah wah wah" but hey, alls we know is fish, yelling, cutting, lifting, shoveling, and answering the phone with a credit card in our mouth, a fish in the hand and five different numbers in our head. We are multitasking masters and good god it's time for a day off.

Shipping has gone well, and the mantra of "controlled chaos" has rung true. With two computers, four phone lines and 14 guys running around, we have moved a helluva lot of seafood over the past 14 days. We are humans and mistakes happen, but for a group of young guys who gather at 6:30am everyday in 28 degree, snowy weather for two solid weeks is pretty amazing.

Our "box manager" Tyler has made sure each one is equipped with styrofoam, tape and the proper newspaper. Our shipping manager Jeremy has been tracking down UPS boxes like a wild game hunter in the rainforest. And yes, oh yes, Ryan Yokoyama has been working the phones like a seasoned family business owner (his dad is the manager and his uncle owns the joint!) assuring people their holidays will go off with the least amount of hitches that we can help.
"it's fun to experience a Christmas at the shop without having to make boxes, I've finally arrived!" he says.

With the weather playing a huge role in much of the country this December, we at the market have shown up keeping normal hours every day as if the city of Seattle was not shutting down their airport, bus system and many other municipal duties.
"It's not the damn apocalpyse," says Scott the driver "it's just snow. I gotta get to the aiport!"

With many customers having been very understanding, our preferred carrier UPS has gone above and beyond. When Seattle claimed the "worse storm in over 30 years", we had a chain-clad truck at our shop a day early collecting packages for the following morning.
"Dude, I just got a call from someone in New Mexico. We shipped their stuff yesterday, it went to Louisville and they had it by noon today. That's crazy!" Anders says in our morning huddle. "UPS called and said all things that may not have gotten there, they are automatically updating to Saturday delivery," says Jeremy. We hope it is comforting to every single one of our customers that we are all stretching to make this holiday go well. We work hard, our suppliers work hard, our shippers work hard, we want a seamless, happy holiday.

We stand on the brink of a great Christmas eve and hope our seafood finds its home with you and your loved ones.

World Famous Jumping Jacks

2008-12-18T22:12:00.000-08:00

We present a 360 degree view of Pike Place Fish on a snowy, December Thursday. With all the shippers packed, and all the other market stands gone for the day, we declare ourselves the winners and remember that it's still snowing and below freezing! I swear there is a customer there and it was totally worth it. Yes......those are world famous jumping-jacks.

Holy Snowy Thursday!

2008-12-18T21:45:00.000-08:00

Schools are closed, buses are jack-knifed on first avenue, even the resilient, recumbent bike-cummuters of Seattle have ceased to travel.

Oh we are open!

It's 6:15am and there are 10, lycra-clad travelers with coffee in hand. They aren't standing still, they're elbow deep in crabs, helping to set-up the show. Market employees walk by with puzzled looks on their faces in disbelief at how much energy these customers have and how they maybe don't realize that there is snow on the ground and a complete shutdown of a major, US city. These out of towners got their jog in early and decided to swing by and see what the fishmongers were up to, and ended up buying our book. Who wakes up at 6am to buy a book at a fish market that isn't even setup?

As much of the country freezes over and begins to snuggle up with the Today Show, the Price is Right and all the other gems of daytime TV and the hardest working appliance in the house that hallowed coffee maker, we are shoveling ice, setting up the perfect shows of shellfish, seafood and crabs, and generating the most energetic stand in the Pike Place Market.

When the other fish markets rolled in at 7, we already had packed 30+ boxes of shippers. When the other fish markets closed at 4:30 because it was "too cold", we were doing jumping jacks as Paul our UPS driver let out a sigh of relief as he saw Jeremy put on the last shippping label that read "Thursday".

Generating. Generating. Generating.

Jeremy sits in the corner and types in shipppers for 12 hours a day, then goes home and punches in more. Anders, Rector, and Sam do exercises in front of the crab show to stay warm while the last shoppers gather their holiday feasts. Yori takes a case of smoked salmon to the head and continues to work the full day battered and bruised. It's December and we are all HERE!

In this economy and this present moment, we have no laurels and no lazy boy......just the best seafood in the world and the most powerful collection of creative, conscious beings on the planet.

Please ship your stuff soon, don't wait. We're not here to "ruin Christmas" for people.

fresh vs. frozen?

2008-12-15T13:15:00.000-08:00

Wow, finally a blog post about fish? A question of quality perhaps, or texture, or even taste. Heck, let's see if they delve deep into the ethics of freezing food....... maybe they'll discuss an environmental issue, a long running hot button issue of frozen endangered fish?

Nope.

Don't take the bait, 's not a post about fresh seafood and frozen seafood. It's really a post about frozen fishmongers. Think about this; your job description includes rubber boots, ice, shovels, freezers, coolers, and you'll be working outside.

"Sign me up!"

16 rowdy, scruffy, holiday-rush-minded mongers throw their hands into the morning huddle. Dick "The Boss" sips his coffee and just says "It's cold boys, but the people are here, let's be with 'em and sell 'em fish!" Let's ship 'em fish.

Good golly it's cold in Seattle. Bundled up as much as he can in the shipping department corner, Jeremy tops out at seven layers this fine "sunny" Seattle day. "World famous baby, that's how we do it!" he says with the slightest hint of sarcasm. Not gonna sugar coat it today, it's cold.

Not gonna lie though, I'm going home to fire up my grill! I like grilled animals, and fish ain't a bad idea. I don't care how cold it is, I'll have a beer in hand as soon as I can with that fatty, flaky fantastic fish on the fire. hoo rah!

Straight on Through 'til Christmas

2008-12-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

Stuff comes and goes. It fades in and out of popularity. You want it one day, the next you don't even remember why you bought it.

Seafood's not like that. Cocktail shrimp are comfort food. Smoked salmon goes with everything. Heck, I like Old Bay seasoning so much, I carry it in my pocket and put that stuff on my popcorn at the movies.

The point is, the end of 2008 has some people out there scared, we all get that. What we also get is the comfort of an awesome meal and the fact that everyone has to eat. Peeling prawns over the sink with mom, slurping raw oysters and Frank 's hot sauce with the cousins, cracking a dungeness leg on the edge of the back porch railing. Preparing food with others is love. These are actions but at the root, you're sharing love and "breaking bread" with one another.

Every single one of us here at the the fish market believe in that and that is why we work the hours we do and work as hard as we do to provide that experience to everyone we can whether you're taking it with you or we're shipping it overnight.

The holiday rush has us all working anywhere from seven to 13 days straight to get it all done. Anders calls it "joyful controlled chaos" as he inhales dinner like a zombie on day 10.......Jaison says it's more of a "spin cycle" for his body as his fiance supports him with a bagged lunch everyday. We're moving a ton of seafood and whether it's shipping manager Jeremy with his headset in the corner sifting through paper work or Rector sailing the 30 pound wild, Alaskan salmon (we got a 35 pounder today from Sitka, AK!) over the counter, we all are going above and beyond for the holiday season. We're choosing to work our asses off and make this place busy.......cause we said so.

Bring it!
Don't know what to send? Ship Early and eat well.
Here is a page with a bunch of different shipping specials!

Breakdown!

2008-12-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

Away he goes...our tireless and fearless truck. He's been a graffiti canvas, a snowball target, a temporary napping spot, and of course the most dependable fish transporter there is. And he is far from broken, but tonight we saw him dragged to the doctor's office. There wasn't a dry eye in the market as our rig was lifited and dragged thru his stomping grounds. Babies were crying, women and children were gasping and shielding their eyes......but the fish still flew, oh yes!

What I'm doing now is creating a great truck.

A truck that yells "heeeyyyaahhh" all the way to the airport and back.

A truck that picks up the best fish in the world.

The driver is world class, no problems there (haha! That's me). We're more wanting a working vehicle. The Seattle airport is about 25 minutes away from our fish market and one cannot bike with salmon on his back. So what do we need? A truck, a good fish truck.

Above you see visible evidence of what we call a "breakdown", something fell out of integrity. In this case, the glorious chariot carrying the fantastically famous fish. I'm putting it out there that this is already handled, the truck is fixed. Right. Publish the breakdown and the breakthrough has already occured! Now everyone else, create that with me and the holiday rush will go off without a hitch and tomorrow we will have a truck! Heeyyyaah!

Ryan Rector, a three year driver for the fish market, and in-house meat expert Don (of Don & Joe's Meats) remove their hats for a moment of silence for our fallen team member. Dry your eyes fellas, it's already done, I can feel it!

Jeff's Back!

2008-12-10T21:13:00.001-08:00

Ice falls in your hair, you drop your cell phone, it's loud, all you want to do is pay for the fish and get out of the madness. A bunch of pierced and tatooed guys scurry around and you all the sudden can't remember who even has your order........"Who was helping you?" one of them asks. "That one? Was it him? I can't remember now, you all just look..."

"Go ahead lady, say we all look the same!" Now you're embarassed.

Well after that snazzy lil' intro, we welcome back one of those pierced and tatooed special guys as a full time crew member. Jeff was here for four years, took a break slingin' fish somewhere else before he realized he "needed Pike Place Fish in his life."

It's a universal thing as far as we're concerned, we all need a little Pike Place in our lives.
Welcome back Jeff, now start making boxes cause you're startin at the bottom!

The Pike Place Fish Family

2008-11-27T13:53:00.000-08:00

There are commercials going around with the crab boat fishermen of "Deadliest Catch" trumpeting the products of their labor as thanksgiving treats.
"This Thanksgiving, start a new tradition," they say, "and eat crab."
"Why fight over two legs, when you can fight over eight?".

Part of me feels a real jealousy of these now celebrities. Captain Sig rode in a Navy, Blue Angel, F16 fighter jet this past summer in Seattle as the grand master of the SeaFair festivities. His brother, a long-time hardworking, Alaskan deckhand spoke on King5 News about kissing babies, shaking hands and signing pictures like he was a presidential candidate. Don't get me wrong, they work their asses off in the middle of the Bering Sea. I'm not complaining, I don't strive for this kind of notoriety.

I bring this all up because with fame, be it Discovery Channel or a $900 video from Charthouse Learning, comes a new limelight that has a whole new bag of exposure you never thought possible. Besides the body aches, calloused hands and smelly clothes, I feel a sense of kinship with these guys because we share a rock solid work ethic that is in a constant balance with the demands of being a human being with friends and family. We begin to have each other as our true and closest family. Take the cameras and videos and blogs away and we're still just Taho, Erick, Ryan, Ben, whomever. We sell fish and stay in business so we can make a difference.

With all that in mind, wednesday was a day that brought one of our own back to work. Keith, the Bear, Bish has been at home the past seven weeks nursing a broken leg. As one particularly known for his "power in brevity", the Bear was glad to be back throwing smoked salmon and a smile to his Pike Place Family.
"Good to see you Bear, how's your leg?"
"Sore."

"Cooking for thanksgiving?"
"Nope"

"Glad to be back?"
"Not sure yet, how are you?"

Some say there is magic in our orange pants and aprons (find me a man who wears overalls and doesn't smile!) Although they do keep us dry and a bit less smelly......for Bear those Grundens are keeping him the same old rock that customers have known for the past 30+ years.
Welcome back Bear....

And Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Come down to the market and throw some smoked salmon on those leftover turkey sandwiches!

Early Wednesday morning, The Bear with his brace that will follow him for the next four weeks.

Now What?

2008-11-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

Similar to many Americans asking this question with our new president-elect, we fishmongers have been dealing with this question about ourselves. Although, this is on our main website, I thought I'd put it here to be timely I guess. We all need the reminders right?
Recently, we realized that we’d accomplished our vision to become world famous. Once we committed to our vision, things seemed to kind of naturally open up and show us the way and provide opportunities to fulfill our vision. We kept stepping into the opportunities, and we did it - we became world famous! But then we had a problem because once you’ve fulfilled a vision, you have to either sit around, rest on your laurels, get fat-headed and arrogant, or you generate a bigger vision.

So, we asked ourselves, ‘Now what?’ We began to wonder. And we created a new vision. Now our vision is ‘World Peace, an idea whose time has come.’ How are we going to accomplish this? We don’t know fully yet. It will unfold as we go…When you take a stand and commit to something, it’s amazing how the world seems to line up with your commitment and all the right events seem to just happen…”

For now, it's on our hats and I know for me, it's a whole new beast when you literally see it on our gear.
World Peace, peace through fish, world famous with a purpose. All sounds good to me!

Congrats to Obama!

2008-11-06T13:40:00.001-08:00

We dress up too!

2008-11-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

The day started with Mike emerging from back room duties dressed as our fearless leader Dicky. We just told him to remember imitation is the highest form of flattery right? The look, the speech, the mannerisms....it was all dead on. The day continued with vegetables, politicians, and even people borrowing our Grundens to be fishmongers! Have a look at our history with costumes!

Sam, Erik, Ben, Anders, Dicky and Johnny even got in the halloween spirit, no flying fish needed!

"rough day" for Anders as you can see

Larry, our UPS contact, ditched the suit and tie and went on the front lines!

ha!

Although, he insists it's not a "costume", Scott pitches fish just like World series MVP Cole Hamels from the Phillies!

Notice the rubber, Xtra Tuff boots on this Sarah Palin!

And I think this guy is wearing a lifetime's supply of plastic bags!? There are hands coming outta somewhere.

Preserving the freshness

2008-10-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

We still read newspapers right? We still throw them out, we still cut out important articles, and yes we homeless types still sleep in them. Do we wrap our fish in them simply to recycle? Come on, there has to be more history than that.

One possibility could be mummification......yup! The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology tells us complete vertebral columns in certain species of fish have been perfectly preserved when wrapped in linen or Ptolemaic styles of papyrus (altough not spreading gossip of King Tut's newest affair, an ancient form of newspaper all the same). Fish were believed to have been in an "excellent state of preservation" when wrapped in linens.

Another "credible website on fish" (kidding) suggests an almost hygienic quality to our old headlines. Fish and chips have been served in newspaper to heighten the aroma and keep them um......sanitary. The article continues saying that "A supporting point to this would be that midwives / the emergency services often suggest the use of newspaper when delivering a baby in an emergency if nothing else is available." hmmm....

ANYWAY.....Johnny, the Bear, Sam and all the other veterans around here can remember how big of a role newspaper has always played for us at Pike Place Fish. We can wrap our fish and preserve the freshness for the two minute stroll to someone's apartment or for two days as the newspaper lined box jumps from hand dolly, to truck, to plane, to doorstep.

Connected with the fabled tradition at Pike Place of wrapping fish in yesterday's news is a relationship with Primeau Place Senior Housing. Nestled in the heart of the Capitol Hill neighborhood just up the street from downtown Seattle, Primeau hosts Henry Green and his hard-working crew of newspaper rolling residents. With their knot tying, nimble fingers and pride for rolling only black and white papers ("the traditional way of wrapping fish"), this crew has been providing this invaluable service to the boys of Pike Place for over 15 years.

In a world where authenticity is the buzzword of all buzzwords, I was taken aback by how genuine and real the newspaper relationship was for us. I escape the traffic and buses of downtown and now maneuver our Ford F450 diesel truck through densely wooded and windy neighborhood streets. After locating Primeau, I meet up with Henry whose first words were "What's this I hear about Bear breaking his leg?!" I could tell this guy had known us for a long time and was ready to hit the ground talking. He was always in around the market in his younger days chewin the fat with Keith "the bear" Bish and more recently, he had been in and out of chemo treatment while always waiting to greet the Pike Place Fish truck as it rolled up to collect Henry's hard work.
After introducing myself as a temporary fill-in for Bear behind the wheels, Henry and Kit showed me the basement utility storage room containing over 600 pounds of quality newspaper rolls. Each one is hand tied and color free. Loading each one into their shopping cart, I roll it up the street in my Extra Tuff rubber boots before throwing them into the back of the truck.

At 18 cents per pound, I write the check and am on my way. We get recycled paper to insulate the freshness of our seafood, and Primeau gets some funds for community dinners and trips that make their facility the kind of place it is to live. Being part of the final newspaper pickup from Primeau meant a lot to me for sure and I hope our relationship with them has helped to make a difference as well.

Speaking for Primeau, Kit Bryson says "We have enjoyed the relationship and I think both parties have benefited from knowing each other".

Everybody has to Eat!

2008-08-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

Leaving the Seahawks in 2008 as their all-time leading rusher with 9,429 yards and 100 touchdowns, Shaun Alexander has been a staple for the rainy city. From Kentucky's "Mr. Football", a red-shirted year at Alabama, NFL awards, playoffs, superbowls and unfortunately injuries, Alexander has always had the 12th man as part of his being.

Not only is he a high profile athlete, but has always been a loyal Pike Place Fish customer. We can't tell you how gracious we are as a company and as individuals for the tourist presence, but sometimes it's the locals who can make big differences for us as Seattle residents.

I know Shaun had his share of salmon and crab over the years but the one who really reaped the benefits of his fish market patronage is his mother in Kentucky.
"He ships fish to his mom all the time, I think it's awesome when he comes down to the market," says shipping manager Jeremy.

Always rolling in style on Autumn Sundays by Qwest Field, eight year fishmonger Anders says "I'm a season ticket holder man, it's rad to see him behind the counter. And not just hangin' out, he's buying fish!"

For me and my athlete starcrossings at 86 Pike Place, I found myself screaming about the Seahawks, then catching a halibut draped in a New Orleans Saints jersey that I quickly spiked on the ground, piled on top of and then shredded. I then realized it was not only the jersey of Saints Quarterback Drew Brees that I shredded, but Brees himself actually watching me from the crowd and jokingly shaking his head. I'm not one to offend men bigger than me, so I graciously shook his hand, asked for an autograph.........and sheepishly tell my story while not mentioning the hawks loss the next day.

Either way, I know we all appreciate what Shaun Alexander has given Seattle and to see him go gives us a bit of sadness. Turns out athletes make a bit of money too, so we like selling them fish when we can. Good luck Shaun wherever football or life takes you, call us when your mom runs out again!

A Step Farther

2008-08-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

Nothin' to it but to do it!
~Erik Espinoza

Erik "the Spaniard" has seen and experienced a lot of stuff here at Pike Place Mar ket in Seattle. When he's not throwing fish or going through people's shopping bags while they shuffle by our fish market, he's always nearby no matter what. He'll be chatting with people about organic produce at the Alvarez Farms booth or in this particular instance, sharing a choice phrase on how he came to make his job enjoyable.

I post this phrase and these pictures because I was blown away by one man's initiative and assertiveness to really find out why that "how to have fun at work" FISH video was so energizing. We get people everyday telling us they've seen it, they've had to watch it, they want copies, etc.. but for this particular family therapist and business owner, he had to find out for himself. The real kicker though was that as we all rolled into the corner of First Avenue and Pike Street on one particular morning, Rich had a shovel in hand and was getting the clams and mussels ready for a day on the display. We huddled up and talked about what our day was like and how we were going to balance our register, keep the hallways clear so people could walk by, and very simply generate the energy possible for a fun and effective day. As we talked, Sam raised his hand and said "Uh, wait wait, who's this guy?" pointing to the already sweating gentleman with a shovel in hand.
Rich spoke up, "I was here yesterday and Ryan told me to really get the full experience and show up at 6:30! I use you guys in my office and the philosophy is all well and good but I had a few days here in Seattle so I wanted to find out for myself".
As the displays filled and the broom was put to work for fine tuning of the area, Rich headed off back to his family to rest from the early wakeup. Rich returned with his wife and young daughter to express his gratitude for such an exciting morning.

Although people have set up the shop with us before by using BizFutures consulting (probably the best way), and some people have even started working here by simply showing up (myself included), Rich really set me back by going ahead and creating an experience for himself. Some of the best things in life, whether they're toys, experiences, jobs, whatever, are made possible by going after them. They may be difficult and they won't be handed to you but they can be completely worth it. Thanks Rich for reminding us of this and how everyone can create great things for themselves if they really want. From everyone on the crew, thanks you for sending us the pictures with individually labled messages!! We love hearing from people about their time at the fish market!

You've definitely made a difference for the Pike Place Fish crew and we hope you can translate the joy and fun you had here into your office environment.

Sorting the stuff.......from the stuff

2008-07-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

Cigarettes light up as a parade of four or five fishmongers pour out onto S. King Street in the international district south of downtown Seattle. The sun is finally beginning to go down creating a pink and orange hue over the Olympic mountains visible behind the cranes and outline of Qwest Field on a cool July night.

The energy on the street is different than it was two hours prior. We have recommitted, recreated, and are ready to take on anything. We have cleaned out the fishbowl once again......like we did two weeks ago......and like we will probably do again.
As far as I can tell, nothing in the world is a destination but rather a journey. Successful journeys require maintenance and that's what we do. We individually make sure we're committed to the journey of a world famous fish market that makes a difference for everyone we can.

Now a pack of hard-working, burly, and sometimes smelly, fishmongers smoking on the street may strike you as a bit intimidating. If you look again, you'll see the crowds are gone, the cameras are nowhere to be seen and all the fishes have been put to bed. What's left is the thickest paint of emotions covering the walls of that little Chinese restaurant where we all have met every two weeks for the past 10 years. Before cocktails or the drive home after 15 or 16 hour days on these meeting nights, we pass around steamed rice and tea talking about what's present and what's missing. What are the conversations going around? What are the choices we need to make?
If you think it's all about fish, you're sadly mistaken. We are present, we are intentional and we do our best to be supportive. Tears, anger, laughter, sadness, the list goes on but what really matters is that we all care enough to sit down and recommit to making this place great, recommit to the vision.

This is my blog entry for a meeting night and the high that I ride until 12:28am on a weeknight. Everyday is great at PPF, but fridays after meetings are really something special.

~scotty

Created From Nothing

2008-07-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

John Yokoyama, owner of Pike Place Fish: "Scotty, it took me a long time to warm up to the internet, and I still don't quite get it all, but if this "blog"will help us tell the world who we are and what we do, why not!"

Seriously, did you ever think a bunch of guys who work in rubber boots, have hands of sand paper and generate more chiropractic paperwork than the hunchback of Notre Dame would begin a blog!?

We thought rather than barraging your email boxes with our ramblings, we'd put it out there to the world and see what sticks. Our plan is to post evidence of what we're generating and creating for ourselves here at Pike Place Fish. We're world famous because of our commitment to creating energy from nothing and this blog will show you how. We're consistently amazed at how that shows up on a daily basis at 86 Pike Place and we wanted you all to see it too.
Be prepared for pictures, updates on the fishes, and who knows what else. We sure as heck don't know but happy to be taking Pike Place Fish to new places everyday.

Now to tell you the truth, this is more time in front of a computer than any of us are willing to devote right now, so thanks for reading the intro and we hope you continue to return and read up on us. The July BBQs are calling which means grills in need of salmon and picnic tables in need of crabs so call us or stop by to get the best summer cookout supplies that the Northwest has to offer! Heeeeyyyyaaaah!