After nearly 20 years in Vancouver's Arbutus Ridge neighbourhood, a family-owned restaurant and seafood store is locking up permanently. But its Victoria location will stay open.
Finest At Sea will close its location at 4675 Arbutus St. on Sept. 15, according to a sign on its door.
"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closing of Finest At Sea Seafood Boutique Vancouver," a notice on its website says. "After many months of looking, we were unsuccessful in finding a new space to set up shop."
The company, which sells fresh seafood caught by its own fishermen off the coast of B.C., traces its beginnings to 1977, according to its website, when founder Bob Fraumeni, who grew up in Victoria, bought his first boat.
In 1984, he established Frozen at Sea and sold to Asian markets. More recently, the company, under Finest at Sea, began selling at its own locations in Victoria and Vancouver.
While there were several locations in Vancouver at one point, including on Granville Island, all but one has closed: the Arbutus location, which opened in 2006.
The store sells fresh seafood as well as fish and chips.
The company's Victoria location, near Fisherman's Wharf, will remain.
While the sign makes no mention of future developments in the area, a rezoning application was approved last year to build a six-storey mixed-use apartment building on the same property.
V.I.A. has reached out to Finest at Sea and will update the story when we hear back.
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