Island Creek Oysters Is Opening a Retail Shop in Maine

Island Creek Oysters. / Photo provided

If you poked around Newbury Street late last year, you might have stumbled on a retail store full of Island Creek oysters. The pop-up shop, which was part of the Newbury Block Party, sold oysters and shellfish from founder Skip Bennett’s Duxbury farm, alongside gift cards and kitchen gear. If you missed out, here’s another chance to see the concept in action: the Island Creek crew are opening a retail store in Maine this spring, the Portland Press Herald reports.

The new storefront will sell fresh seafood and household supplies in Portland’s Munjoy Hill district. Those oysters will come from the company’s Massachusetts farm, as well as small farms across Maine that don’t have the means to distribute their product, per the Press Herald. The store will feature a fast-casual food element too, according to a press release.

Island Creek sells oysters year-round to kitchens across the U.S., including venerable New York and California establishments, and offers online retail. This new venture will offer Portland locals (and ambitious Bostonians) the chance to shop brick-and-mortar, and slurp a few oysters.

It’s worth noting the tiny titan of Portland seafood, Eventide Oyster Co., is making nearly the exact opposite move to Fenway this year. As Eater Boston notes, the oyster craze shows no sign of slowing in 2017 New England.

Aside from the new retail endeavor, Bennett and his Island Creek Oyster Bar partners Jeremy Sewall, Garrett Harker, and Shore Gregory just opened a new restaurant in Burlington, in addition to their Kenmore Square original and two locations of Row 34. The quartet is also developing a Harvard Square restaurant. Details on that spot are under wraps for now, but a licensing document reveals the name is Les Sablons, and that it could seat around 140 people, Boston Restaurant Talk reported.

Island Creek Oysters, 123 Washington Ave., Portland, Maine, islandcreekoysters.com.