Pike Place Fish Market

{{Infobox company

| name = Pike Place Fish Market

| logo = Logo ppfm.png

| type = Private

| foundation = 1930

| founder =

| location = 86 Pike Place
Seattle, Washington, U.S.

| industry = Seafood

| owners = Jaison Scott, Ryan Reese, Samuel Samson, Anders Miller

| homepage = http://pikeplacefish.com

}}

File:Pike Place Fish 1.jpg

Pike Place Fish Market is an open-air fish market at Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, United States, located at the corner of Pike Street and Pike Place. Founded in 1930, it is known for its tradition of fishmongers throwing the fish purchased by customers before wrapping it.{{cite news|url=http://www.reliableplant.com/article.asp?pagetitle=Do%20you%20provide%20world-class%20service?&articleid=11786|title=Do you provide world-class service?| work = Reliable Plant Magazine|publisher=Noria |year=2008|access-date=2007-05-27}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}} The fish market was near bankruptcy in 1986, but after the introduction of new practices such as the fish throwing, games, and customer performances, it received exposure in national media and on television shows. Today, Pike Place Fish Market is a world-famous tourist destination, attracting up to 10,000 daily visitors.{{cite news |date=2006-09-01 |title=Caution: flying fish ahead: the 2006 general session promises insights, smiles and scales. |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20050789_ITM |access-date=2007-05-27 |work=Parks & Recreation |publisher=National Recreation and Park Association}}{{cite news |last=Burge |first=Michael |date=October 17, 2010 |title=Delicious ways to explore Seattle's foodie paradise |url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/17/delicious-ways-to-explore-seattles-foodie/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116211536/http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/17/delicious-ways-to-explore-seattles-foodie/ |archive-date=January 16, 2013 |access-date=December 3, 2012 |newspaper=The San Diego Union-Tribune}}

History

The Pike Place Fish Market was purchased in 1965 by John Yokoyama, a former employee of the fish market who believed the purchase would ultimately enable him to afford the car payments on his new Buick Riviera.{{cite web|url=http://www.pikeplacefish.com/beginnings2.html |title=Our Humble Beginnings |publisher=Pike Place Fish Market |access-date=2007-05-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123091620/http://www.pikeplacefish.com/Beginnings2.html |archive-date=January 23, 2008 }} Little known beyond the Seattle area, the market was nearly bankrupt in 1986, when Yokoyama and his staff sought advice from consultant Jim Bergquist.

At a meeting with Bergquist, an employee suggested that they attempt to make the market "world famous", with the ideas for the business' flying and thrown fish, games with customers, and staff attitudes of always enjoying their work, so that customers would as well. In an interview, Yokoyama said, "We took a stand that we were going to become world famous. We just said it and it became so."{{cite news|url=http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/journal/article/304203 |title=HR philosophy goes fishing for positive work attitudes |work=Seattle Times |year=2008 |access-date=2007-05-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708113045/http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/journal/article/304203 |archive-date=July 8, 2011 }}

The bronze piggy-bank sculpture nicknamed "Rachel", a popular symbol of the market, was created by Whidbey Island sculptor Georgia Gerber in 1986. It raises about $10,000 per year in donations for housing and services in low income areas.[https://www.seattlemag.com/article/origins-pike-place-markets-famous-pig The Origins of Pike Place Market's Famous Pig] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025065010/https://www.seattlemag.com/article/origins-pike-place-markets-famous-pig |date=2021-10-25 }}, Seattle Magazine, July 2016

Four years later, in 1990, Ted Turner's Goodwill Games were held in Seattle. News crews at the Pike Place Market discovered the fish market and its performances with customers, and they filmed them. Soon afterwards, the fish market appeared on Good Morning America, leading to the business and its employees being filmed by various film crews, and being featured in numerous magazines.

Today, the fishmongers at Pike Place Fish Market perform in front of up to 10,000 visitors a day during the summer tourist season. Another popular feature of the Fish Market is the monkfish, which sometimes is made to "snap" at customers by use of a hidden line. The success of the business has been attributed to its human resources and employee attitudes. The Fish Market's employees are known to give motivational speeches at businesses, civic groups and schools, and have been featured in various motivational books.{{cite news|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-31322447_ITM|title=Seattle to market|first = Peter| last = Fish|work = Sunset|publisher=Sunset Publishing Corp.|date=2007-06-01|access-date=2007-05-27}} {{Dead link|date=April 2012|bot=H3llBot}}{{cite news|url=http://alaskajournal.com/stories/112606/fis_20061126065.shtml |title=Good times means good business at Pike Place |last=Bauman |first=Margaret |work=Alaska Journal of Commerce |date=2006-11-26 |access-date=2007-05-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108032907/http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/112606/fis_20061126065.shtml |archive-date=January 8, 2009 }}

In 1991, CNN named the Pike Place Fish Market as one of the three most fun places to work in America. It was bought by four of its former employees in 2018.{{cite news |last=Clarridge |first=Christine |date=2018-07-20 |title='It's surreal': Seattle's Pike Place Fish Market sold to fish-throwing employees |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/its-surreal-seattles-pike-place-fish-market-sold-to-fish-throwing-employees/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720232429/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/its-surreal-seattles-pike-place-fish-market-sold-to-fish-throwing-employees/ |archive-date=2018-07-20 |access-date=2018-07-21 |publisher=The Seattle Times.}}

Fish throwing

File:Pike Place Fish 5.jpg

The Pike Place Fish Market is widely known for its custom of hurling customers' orders across the shopping area. A typical routine will involve a customer ordering a fish; the fishmongers in orange rubber overalls and boots will call out the order which is loudly shouted back by all the other staff, at which point the original fishmonger will throw the customer's fish behind the counter to be wrapped. The repeated shouting of fish orders started out as a prank on one employee, but became a tradition as the display was enjoyed by customers. When at work, the fish market's staff continually yell to each other and chant in unison while throwing ordered fish.{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/travel/seattle-highlights/2006/03/18/1142582574465.html|title=Seattle highlights|work=The Age|first=Cristina|last=Pfeiffer|access-date=2007-05-27|location=Melbourne|date=2006-03-22|archive-date=2023-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205225858/https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/seattle-highlights-20060322-gdn6ns.html|url-status=live}} Occasionally they will throw a foam fish into the crowd to scare bystanders, or select a customer from the crowds to participate in the fish toss.{{cite news |date=2005-11-08 |title=Fishy tale could cause indigestion |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12118742_ITM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522110339/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12118742_ITM |archive-date=2011-05-22 |access-date=2007-05-27 |work=Europe Intelligence Wire |publisher=Financial Times Ltd.}} The market displays a sign in the general area which reads "Caution: Low Flying Fish".{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115593784783239769|title=How I Got Hooked on Seattle|last=Landro|first=Laura|work=Wall Street Journal|date=2006-08-19|access-date=2007-05-27|archive-date=2022-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020192525/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115593784783239769|url-status=live}}

Films, books and popular culture

File:Counter with Taho Pike Place Fish Market.JPG

In 1998, the Pike Place Fish Market was the subject of a documentary film and accompanying book, FISH! Philosophy. The Pike Place Fish Market has also been the setting for several best-selling corporate training videos, the aforementioned FISH!, and also FISH!Sticks, which have been used by firms such as Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Sprint Nextel, Southwest Airlines, Sainsbury's, Saturn, and Scottish and Southern Energy, for employee training. The Pike Place Fish Market has been featured in a variety of television shows and commercials. These include a Spike Lee Levis jeans commercial; MTV's The Real World; NBC's Frasier, and ABC's Good Morning America. In films, they have appeared in Free Willy.{{cite news|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-7278357_ITM|title=Pike Place fishmongers showing up as examples of fun at work|work=Philadelphia Inquirer|access-date=2007-05-27 | first=Nita | last=Lelyveld | date=2000-08-04}} Reference to the Pike Place Fish Market is also made by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in their 2015 single "Downtown" featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Caz.