Guy Harvey’s Island Grill, a chain of family-friendly restaurants with retail stores, opened its fifth restaurant-retail concept in Panama City Beach, Florida last week. The new 10,000 square foot restaurant is located in Pier Park, a one million square foot, open-air, lifestyle center across from the beach in the heart of Panama City Beach. Pier Park was developed and is owned by Simon Property Group.
Currently with four coastal locations in the southeast including Grand Cayman, Marco Island, Key West, and Orange Beach, Alabama, Guy Harvey’s Island Grill restaurants offer a variety of Americana fare and fresh, sustainable seafood in a unique dining atmosphere. The décor is accented with Guy Harvey’s distinctive marine, wildlife original art and prints, and Guy Harvey Artist’s Collection Wines can be paired with each dish.
Guy Harvey enjoys a storied career as a world-renowned artist, photographer, diver and scientist whose focus has always been beneath the waves. His artwork is in galleries, stores, and at fishing tournaments, and his conservation efforts to save marine life in the oceans are well known. So, it’s only natural that Harvey should enter into the restaurant business with Guy Harvey’s Island Grill. Each Guy Harvey’s Island Grill restaurant offers not only fresh, sustainable seafood in a casual dining atmosphere, but also a retail store and gallery that features original Guy Harvey artwork, signature clothing, and giftware.
“The restaurant-retail store concept, first established in my hometown of Georgetown, Grand Cayman, has proven so successful, that we have chosen to expand the Guy Harvey brand through this prototype into other markets including Panama City Beach,” said Guy Harvey. “With a booming local market and more than 7 million tourists who come each year for the fishing, sun, and surf, Panama City Beach is an ideal location to expand the Guy Harvey’s Island Grill concept. We believe this will be a very successful market for us,” concluded Harvey.
“Despite the volatile economic environment, 2008 was a banner retail sales year for Guy Harvey, Inc. and we are continuing to introduce the Guy Harvey Island Grill restaurant-retail store concept into additional growth markets throughout the southeast,” said Steve Stock, President of Guy Harvey, Inc. “Our new location at Pier Park in Panama City Beach fits perfectly with our expansion plans into select coastal markets.”
“Guy Harvey’s Island Grill will be an excellent addition and important asset to Pier Park. Its combination of Americana food, impressive array of retail selections, and commitment to conservation, all under the Guy Harvey brand, are very powerful and productive,” said Felicia Cook, Director of Mall Marketing and Business Development for Simon.
By expanding its restaurant-retail store concept to additional markets, Guy Harvey’s Island Grill hopes to increase awareness not only for Guy Harvey’s restaurants, Guy Harvey Wines, artwork and licensed products, but also for his efforts to save and conserve the ocean’s marine life.
As part of his ongoing commitment to researching and conserving the ocean’s marine life, Guy Harvey has insisted his restaurants serve only carefully selected seafood that has not been over-fished. Guy Harvey’s Island Grill restaurants do not serve over-exploited or threatened species such as swordfish, grouper, Chilean sea bass or any species of billfish or shark. By excluding these fish from its menus, Guy Harvey’s Island Grill restaurants aid in the long-term improvement of these fish stocks. A simple, responsible seafood guide, detailing what fish to eat and avoid, is available at all Guy Harvey’s Island Grill restaurants to raise awareness of carefully selecting seafood for sustaining the oceans and marine wildlife.
Additionally, a portion of all proceeds from restaurant and retail store sales of Guy Harvey artwork and licensed products fund marine research for the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation. Through Guy Harvey’s Ocean Foundation, new marine research and educational outreach programs are conducted to better inform recreational and commercial fishermen and the public of the need for additional conservation and best management practices for a more sustainable marine environment.
In the end, whether it’s Guy Harvey’s Island Grill, with its carefully appointed seafood menu, Guy Harvey’s distinctive marine wildlife art, or his marine research and conservation efforts, it’s all about the ocean
PCBDaily 