Back Then
Once upon a time in Japan . . .
It all started a long time ago, in a place far, far, away... no, really! Our company started back in the 1960s in Japan. That was when Tak Hamatake, a young man from the southern island of Kyushu, stepped off the plane in Vancouver with dreams of owning his own business.
It wasn't long before that dream was a reality. But success didn't come to Tak overnight. Truth be told, the first business he owned was a TV repair shop. If business had been good, you'd be reading the story of "Television City" right now. Fortunately for seafood lovers, business was only so-so.
So Tak decided to try something new. One of the businesses he considered was a seafood retail store. He wasn’t impressed with the seafood offerings at the local seafood outlets, and felt he could provide something better. Being from Japan, he knew a thing or two about fresh seafood. So, Tak embarked on the seafood retail business, with an emphasis on traditional Japanese ways of serving seafood: a focus on absolute quality and freshness.
Seafood City is born
In the beginning, Seafood City wasn’t called Seafood City. It went by the name of "Hamaso." Loosely translated, it stood for "Hamatake's Seafood Store." Tak, along with his loving wife Meg, quickly built up a loyal clientele. The store quickly gained a reputation among Japanese-Canadians in the city for being the closest thing to a real Japanese seafood store on this side of the Pacific.
Move to Granville Island
Things were going well when one day Tak found out about the re-development of Granville Island. Back then, Granville Island was an old industrial site without much of anything on it, very different from the vibrant marketplace it is today. But Tak saw the potential. So he agreed to join in as one of the storekeepers for the future public market.
By switching our location to Granville Island, Tak was able to boost the store's profile, and build up a brand new customer base.
Handing Over of the Reigns
After some twenty years serving customers, Meg and Tak Hamatake made the decision to hand over the family business to son Brian. In his youth years, Brian was an active member of the store. Slowly and surely, he moved up the ranks of the company until he was ready to take the reigns full-time in 2000. Finally, Meg and Tak had a chance to sit back and relax a little!
Since then, Brian has been working extremely hard to carry on his mom and dad's commitment to absolute quality and uncompromising customer service. Using the skills he learned from his parents, he intends to carry on the business for at least another 20 years!
