New seafood store opens up in Shelburne, first of its kind

November 11, 2021 · 0 Comments

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

King crab, muscles, octopus, snapper, and rainbow trout.

Those are just a few of the different types of seafood that can be found in the freezers of Shelburne‘s newest independent grocery store – Finiti Fish Depot.

A family operated business started by Diane James-Escoffery, her husband Ewen and children Jadon, Jazara, and Josiah, the seafood dedicated store is located on Main Street and opened their doors to the community at the end of September.

“We’ve been able to meet a lot of different people and they’ve expressed gratitude for having a store like this in the area,” said James- Escoffery.

James-Escoffery and her family have lived in the Shelburne community for the last six years, and she said they would often have to travel to the city to buy the variety of seafood they wanted.

“The journey was a headache,” said James-Escoffery.

Seeing a gap in the market and an opportunity to bring a new business to the growing area, the James family decided to start the beginnings of what would then become Finiti Fish Depot.

“When I did my research, I looked within a certain radius – Orangeville, Alliston, Shelburne, Mount Forest – and there was nothing that sold a wide range of seafood,” said James-Escoffery. “It’s a growing community, you want to be able to cater for their needs so that they don’t have to go the city. Everything can stay within Shelburne, and that will help the community to grow.”

The family first began their business with sales to friends, family members, and neighbours before soon shifting to online sales for the general public out of their household. Now, they’ve finally expanded to a storefront.

“We started off by selling salmon and snapper and then people in the area were responding asking to place orders for a wider variety like octopus,” she explained. “Most people wanted to see the actual product and the demand was there, so we decided to do a storefront.”

While mainly focused on providing a variety of seafood, the grocery store also sells other items from marinate sauces, beans, canned goods, and different meats such as oxtail and goat.

James-Escoffery added that they are also looking to bring in fresh seafood options, but are seeing delays in the arrival of the display fridge.

Open a little over a month, James-Escoffery said her family is proud to see the growth of their business and are happy to help expand the communities growing culinary needs.

Finiti Fish Depot is located 112 Main Street in Shelburne. The seafood depot is open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays. For the weekends, it’s open from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.