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Lobster promotion far exceeds expectations; 7,000 sold
11/13/2008
Boothbay Harbor
Register, November 13, 2008
Lisa Kristoff, Staff Reporter “We could have sold thousands more,’’
said Boothbay Harbor Police Chief Bob Hasch, referring to the nearly
7,000 lobsters sold last Saturday at the high school parking lot. The
promotion, dubbed “Lobster Maine-ia,’’ was planned to focus attention
on the dramatic drop in lobster prices this past month, due to a glut
in Canadian processing plants. The sale was scheduled to get underway
at 9 a.m. Saturday in the lower parking lot adjacent to the tennis
courts, but by 7:30, potential customers were already showing up, and
by 9 a.m., an estimated 2,000 lobsters had already been sold. The
lobsters were offered either live or cooked for $5 per lobster, and the
demand for cooked lobsters proved to be extremely high. The three
trucks running between the parking lot and the dealers – Robinson’s
Wharf, Sea Pier, Bristol Lobster Sales, Atlantic Edge and Boothbay
Lobster Wharf – couldn’t keep up with the sales. “Before we finished
unloading a truck, all the lobsters had already been sold,’’ said
Hasch, who helped spearhead the sale after talking to lobsterman Clive
Farrin and area lobster dealers. Hugh Thompson and Eddie Tibbetts spent
the day cooking lobsters to try to keep up with the demand. Evelyn
Andrews kept track of the financial end of the sale throughout the day.
Enthusiastic customers wanting to both help the lobstermen and take
advantage of the low prices reportedly came from far and near
(customers were identified from as far away as Bangor and Lewiston),
after hearing the lobster promotion advertised on television and in the
newspapers. Some orders were for as many as fifty lobsters. The arts
and crafts show and dog trials across the street at the YMCA also
helped boost sales, and every available parking spot in the Meadow area
appeared to be taken throughout the day. By 1 p.m., the lobsters were
nearly gone, and the dealers began culling over more of their lobsters
to come up with more chicken lobsters. This new supply didn’t last
long, either, and before 1:30, the “Sold Out’’ signs went up, with
apologies to those who arrived later to buy lobsters. Throughout the
day, the crew handed out sample menus, information on how to store
lobsters, etc. Area inns offered lobster for breakfast, and helped
promote the special Boothbay Harbor event. The promotion went so well
that most of the participants agreed it is worth repeating. An
estimated $10,000 was cleared, to be used to promote lobster sales
statewide. The promotion brought a great deal of publicity, which
continued well into this week, with calls still coming in asking for
details on what had taken place here
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