After more than 25 years of fulfilling his mission to bring coastal seafood to landlocked Cincinnati by opening several fish markets and seafood catering businesses, Kevin Smith will be calling it quits at the end of the year.
Smith told The Enquirer he's finally ready to retire to spend more time with his wife Ann and his new pup Snugs.
"I know it's time," he said Friday. "I've got things I've got to catch up on from the last 25 years. My wife has been a lobster widow for 25 years, I worked all weekends for 25 years, I've worked in the shops. So, she's excited for me to get through so we can do things together."
Smith's expertise in securing exquisite seafood dates back to his upbringing in Swan's Island, Maine. A commercial fisherman by trade, Smith, his three brothers, and his father operated a fishing business in Swan's Island called Bounty Seafood that Smith was a part of for around 20 years.
He eventually brought those talents to the Queen City.
In 1981, Smith met his wife Ann, a Cincinnati native, in Camden, Maine after she had moved away from Ohio upon completing nursing school. The couple eventually moved to Cincinnati, the same place where they got married, in 1992. Smith spent his first three years in Ohio as an electrician.
But his passion for seafood and his fisherman's upbringing led him to chase his dreams of starting his own business. In 1996, he opened his own catering business and fish market, providing Maine-quality seafood to the folks of Anderson Township. The name of the market was Bounty Seafood II, an ode to his family's business. It opened on Salem Road.
He sold the market in 2005 to focus solely on catering before opening his latest market, Lobsta Bakes of Maine, back in 2009.
Smith's clientele for Lobsta Bakes of Maine, which is located on Church Street in Newtown, continued to grow over the years. And long ago, he realized he had found the perfect area to open a business in.
"I've had great success here in Cincinnati, and I'm proud of that," he said. "The one thing that has made success in Cincinnati is the seafood I've provided, but also the customers. If I had to do it all over again, I would set up here again, because (the people of Cincinnati) love small businesses. They support a lot of small businesses around here besides myself."
Though catering slowed down significantly over the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith's market sales went up by 70% at one point. He has since maintained 40% growth of pre-pandemic sales, he said.
But the future of Lobsta Bakes is still to be determined. Though Smith is retiring, he has heard from some interested candidates about potentially taking over the business.
"I'm proud of what I've built," he said. "I'm hoping maybe I can keep the legacy going. I don't have kids, but I'm hoping somebody will come along that can just keep it going. I hate to just shut it down, but if I have to, that's what we'll do."
"Nothing's for sure until you see the check in your hand," he added.
Smith said he will be engaged in a few upcoming meetings and an announcement on the market's future will come soon.
"My crew wants to stay and work," he said. "They want to find somebody that will take it over. So, I'm in the process of talking but I haven't got a real customer yet."
Until any future announcements are made, Smith says he's focused on his customers until the end of the year. That, and reflecting on his 25 years of service to Cincinnati.
"We're so busy here, I have to concentrate all on my customers right now for the holiday season and to make sure all the fish is good," he said. "My mission when I first came here was to have the best seafood I could bring in and provide great customer service. Those are my two things, and I think it's worked out.
"My customers say it has."
Source link
