BROOKLYN IS WHERE IT HAPPENS, ACME IS THE HERRING AND THE WALL STREET JOURNAL TELLS IT LIKE IT IS (NO FAKE NEWS THERE!)

A worker pushed a cart with salmon in brine on Fish Friday at Acme Smoked Fish in Brooklyn. Below, lake whitefish in a hot smoker.

Brooklyn Fish Factory Reels Them In

BY CHARLES PASSY

Source: WSJ Sept 13, 2018

If you visit Acme Smoked Fish’s headquarters in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood on Friday mornings, you’ll find a scene that is anything but corporate.

A line of customers snakes out the door, with a wait-time that can run upward of 30 minutes. Inside, controlled chaos prevails as patrons grab package after package of smoked salmon or put in requests for unwrapped fish that is sold by weight, all at prices that can be up to 50% under retail.And that is to say nothing of special items such as a dish of salmon poke dressed with mangoes and jalapeños.

This loxapalooza is a weekly event that goes by the formal name Fish Friday. The tradition extends back at least a few decades at the family-owned company, which traces its roots to the beginning of the 20th century. Acme now calls itself the largest producer of smoked fish in the country.

The company expects the lines for Fish Friday to be even longer this Friday, which comes a few days before Yom Kippur.

The Jewish Day of Atonement entails a 24-hour period of fasting, followed by a hearty spread that for many traditionally includes smoked fish.

For scores of Fish Friday regulars, however, no holiday is needed to justify stocking up on lox and sable and herring and whitefish and…well, you get the idea.

The attraction, of course, is the bargain pricing. Salmon sold by the pound generally runs $16 to $18, with the cost varying slightly depending upon the type (nova, gravlax, etc.). At stores in the city, prices can easily top $40, particularly for salmon that is hand-sliced.

And yet, Moshe Shmueli, a 32-year-old resident of Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood, said Fish Friday is about more than a deal. “It’s the atmosphere,” he said.

Another plus, Mr. Shmueli said: The product is super-fresh because it is prepared on site. He inevitably purchases more than he had planned. “Instead of buying a half pound, you buy 3 pounds.”

Another group of regulars sees Fish Friday as a reward after a morning’s labor. The North Brooklyn Runners club stops by once a month after completing a run of 1¾ miles.

“I mean, who doesn’t love fish?” asked Jennifer Herr, the club’s president.

This is all a far cry from when Fish Friday started, says Emily Caslow Gindi, Acme’s director of customer service and one of the family members behind the company. In the early days of the event, the idea was just to sell some leftover items to neighborhood residents.

But in the past decade, word has gotten out. “I still think we must be in some Japanese tourist guide,” said Richard Schiff, an Acme vice president.

Acme won’t discuss the company’s sales in general and Fish Friday sales in particular. But the company says the weekly event isn’t a significant income generator compared with its broader nationwide business.

The company doesn’t plan to expand Fish Fridays beyond five hours—8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

There is something special about a “store” that comes to life once a week, said Mr. Schiff. In its own way, he added, “it is still this secret New York experience.”