Construction on the building opposite Hammond Lumber began last September. First came the pouring of the foundation, then the piecing together of the building and over the next two months, the building was closed off from the elements of winter. Amid the work in the beginning, we got a name to attach to the project: Pinkham’s Seafood.

Pinkham's Seafood started on River Road around 1985. When his mother died in 2008, owner Russ Pinkham took over the business, which was largely wholesaling clams then, and he started a retail market. In 2014, Pinkham's Seafood moved to the former site of Lisa's Lunchbox on Route 27 where it has been until this day. Except for a facelift to the building the next year, all was relatively quiet for the business and its owners until last year.

“We outgrew the other place and business was good and opportunity knocked,” said Pinkham. “It gave us a chance to do something besides just fish because you would not believe how many people come into our market and go 'We're going to get some lobsters and fish or whatever, but now we've got to go somewhere else to get some steak or something.' Now you can come in here for both."

Russ and his wife Cathy have said local butcher Peter Hurst will be preparing and stocking the meats and is very excited to start. Along with seafood and meat, the store will carry fresh produce – some local – and dairy, among a variety of things. It will also be featured under a new banner: Pinkham’s Gourmet Market.

The store will not be a full supermarket, the Pinkhams explained.  It will carry different products than other places,  feature local products and will be easy to go in and buy everything you need for a meal.

“We're not big enough to carry everything and we don't want to carry everything,” said Russ. "We want to keep it Boothbay, Maine, and New England products. There's a lot of nice products out there that people haven't seen and we'll get some in here."

However, the idea grew from there, said Cathy Pinkham, who showed off the oyster bar and explained the store will also have a deli. She will  do all the cooking – things like potato salad and macaroni salad, for example – but that will all come in time as they approach everything carefully.

"We've got to get our feet wet, first," said Cathy. "We'll start simple – offer crabmeat rolls, lobster rolls, but eventually I am going to do some deli sandwiches and salads to go."

Despite the new adventure, Russ and Cathy Pinkham say they want to stick heavily to the seafood because that's what they know and that’s what made Pinkham’s what it is today. The store is not quite ready to open yet as the owners and staff make final touches and await orders for a handful of products to fill out the shelves. However, one thing is certain: The Pinkhams are even more excited to finish setting up  the store than opening it, a sign of being oh-so-close to a fast approaching soft open.

Pinkham’s Gourmet Market will have a grand opening in the second week of August, date to be determined.