Skippers Seafood & Chowder House is a group of independently owned and operated locations licensed by Harbor Wholesale. There are currently licensed Skippers restaurants operating in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. Skippers also produces retail sizes and industrial sizes of Skippers clam chowder, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, and coleslaw dressing. The retail items are sold in grocery stores, convenience stores and over the Internet. There are over 50 Skippers fleet locations operating under limited license agreements with Harbor Wholesale. Skippers and the Pacific Northwest Coast is known for great seafood. For over half a century, Skippers has been bringing the fresh seafood and quick service of traditional coastal fish & chip huts to the greater Pacific Northwest region and beyond. With the seafood sourced and processed right here in the Pacific Northwest, they are keeping true to the local roots. There are no extra links in the supply chain. This benefits the local economies, but it also means the products are more sustainable, have fewer environmental impacts, and tastes better.

History

Skippers was founded by Herb Rosen in

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

, Washington, in 1969, at which time Skippers began serving fried fish, prawns, scallops and clams, as well as

chowder Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish. New England clam chowder is typically ...

s. Its corporate headquarters was eventually moved to

Edmonds Edmonds may refer to: * Edmonds (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the surname) * Edmonds, Washington, a city in Washington, US ** Edmonds station (Washington), a passenger train station in Washington, US * Edmonds station (SkyTra ...

, where it stayed for many years until moving to SeaTac shortly before the original Skippers, Inc. was dissolved in 2007 and the Skippers brand was sold to new ownership. Skippers experienced rapid growth during the 1970s as new restaurants were opened in several western states and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. In 1989, Kansas-based

NPC International NPC International was one of the largest restaurant franchisees and was one of the largest restaurant operators of any kind in the United States. NPC was the largest franchisee of both Pizza Hut and Wendy's, and owned more than 1,200 Pizza Hut lo ...

purchased Skippers, Inc., closing some restaurants. NPC operated Skippers until 1995, when it was purchased by Meridian Capital and from 1995 through 2002, the Skippers management team introduced a line of grilled entrees, including grilled wild caught

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

halibut Halibut is the common name for three flatfish in the genera '' Hippoglossus'' and ''Reinhardtius'' from the family of right-eye flounders and, in some regions, and less commonly, other species of large flatfish. The word is derived from ''h ...

, and chicken. In late 2002, Skippers was purchased by a group of

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

investors although this venture was short-lived. New logos and new products were introduced in the spring of 2003, and again in 2007. As of 2007, there were Skippers stores operating in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and

. On December 12, 2006, Skippers, Inc., filed

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

in U.S. Court in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

in an organizational restructuring. The restructuring failed, and Skippers, Inc., was

liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

on June 29, 2007. Of the 58 stores remaining after Skippers initially filed for bankruptcy, approximately 14 were sold to various individuals and corporate interests through limited license agreements. When the sales of individual units and closures were finalized, Skippers, Inc., ceased to exist as a corporation. Starway Restaurants acquired all of the intellectual property of Skippers Seafood & Chowder in late 2007 and formed a partnership in 2013 with Harbor Wholesale to create the "Go Fleet" locations. Starway eventually sold the intellectual property to Harbor Wholesale at the beginning of 2022. As of October 2022, there are five conventional Skippers restaurants known as "Ships of the Line" in operation in Washington. Skippers also offers a limited number of menu items in "Go Fleet" locations typically found in convenience stores and supermarkets.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skippers Seafood and Chowder House Regional restaurant chains in the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006 Restaurants established in 1969 Seafood restaurants in the United States 1969 establishments in Washington (state) American companies established in 1969 Economy of the Northwestern United States 2022 mergers and acquisitions

History

See also

References

External links