Brooksville couple opens Weeki Wachee Seafood Market
Starting a business later in life can be better than retirement, especially when business partners really like each other. For Al and Ellie Marceau, 77 and 75, leaving their comfortable Brooksville home four days a week is easy since they thoroughly enjoy where they are going.
“We like being together,” said Ellie Marceau.
The couple has been married 58 years. They’ve worked side by side in various capacities, as employees of a plastics tool company and managers of a hotel resort. They’ve owned businesses and they’ve retired a few times to travel in their motor home and even lived on a houseboat.
Now the couple, who moved to Brooksville in 2006, will work together Weeki Wachee Seafood Market, which they recently opened on U.S. 19.
They know their seafood, from fresh grouper to cod to Gulf shrimp. And they’ve owned successful seafood restaurants up north during a past filled with great stories of adventure.
The glass case inside their modest market is filled with fresh samplings of many varieties of locally-caught fish. A pound of colossal shrimp runs $16. Fresh dry scallops are $15.99 for 10 to 20 pieces. Swordfish and North Atlantic salmon are $11.99 a pound. And tilapia is $6.99 per pound.
Al Marceau called them teaser prices that will eventually climb but will remain competitive. And he offers special discounts at the end of the week on remaining supplies of fish. For now, they are testing the market, getting a feel for what residents want in their local seafood shop.
It took some adjusting, Al Marceau said. He described Hernando residents as serious about the quality of their seafood but not willing to pay inflated prices. And that’s fair, he said. He recognized the need to custom-fit his product and pricing to the market. And so far, he is pleasantly pleased with the comments from those who have stumbled in.
The location, while great for high automobile volume, is a bit of an obstacle. Tucked in the Winchester Plaza on U.S. 19 between Lowes and Golden Corral behind the Motorcycle Store, Weeki Wachee Seafood Market, 5162 Commercial Way, is difficult to spot, unless you follow Al Marceau’s careful directions.
While fresh seafood is the main draw, the warmth of this couple and the comedic conversations they engage in will keep customers returning. It’s clear that the couple isn’t in it to make a killing. They have a history of doing what makes them happy and they say Weeki Wachee Seafood Market is all about doing what they love.
The couple feeds off each other. Al Marceau said his wife is the brain and he’s the physical force.
Weeki Wachee Seafood Market is the ideal startup, Al Marceau said.
“All the work has been done,” he said. “Now we just enjoy watching it grow.”
The key to its success is developing creative and flexible boundaries. They are currently test marketing vacuum-packed local Gulf clams on the half shell and clam neck fryers that are prepared and ready for deep frying. Weeki Wachee Seafood Market was certified and licensed to prepare these vacuum-packed meals in-house.
They are offering them to local restaurants, hoping to build a strong wholesale market in addition to drawing loyal visitors to their retail counter.
They encourage customers to provide feedback on what they would like available as they fill their inventory. They also prepare special holiday packages, like Clam Boils and crafty trays. Early ordering is strongly encouraged.
Why start a new business when many couples their age are retiring?
“It comes from the act of getting bored,” Al Marceau said. “It’s hard work whether you’re young or old.”
“We’re back to the basics,” Ellie Marceau said. “It makes us feel good that we’re useful.”
Weeki Wachee Seafood Market is open Wednesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Email Hernando Today correspondent Kim Dame at [email protected].
Biz at a Glance
Name: Weeki Wachee Seafood Market
Address: 5162 Commercial Way, Spring Hill
Phone: 352-587-1778
Website: weekiwacheeseafoodmarket.com
