Fans of fresh seafood were shocked and saddened to see a social media announcement last week from Flagship, a market in Lakeside, announcing that it was closing.

Rachel Collins, who is 61 and has had a few health issues in recent years (including a broken back), says she is (understandably) tired of the rigors of running a food business and is hoping to sell the business. “It’s the size of business where you can’t be an owner in absentia,” she says.  

For now, Flagship is closed. She’s had several offers to buy the business, and has a potential buyer with whom she is negotiating, but no deal is yet completed.

Seafood is in Rachel’s blood. When she was in her 20s, she and her mother started Collins Caviar Company in Chicago to sell American caviar.

Rachel moved to Harbor Country in 1994 from Chicago when she was 30 to help with the restaurant Jenny’s, then operating out of Gordon Beach Inn. 

“I kept thinking, Harbor Country really needs a good gourmet store,” she says. She opened Flagship in 2016, offering fresh fish (sushi-grade tuna, branzino, swordfish, premium shrimp and plenty more) as well as hot and cold prepared foods. Fish and chips were especially popular. Fine cheeses, tapenade, baguettes, American caviar and other items were also on offer. She also started a fish buyers’ club and catered parties and events.

When Rachel opened Flagship, few other shops offered fresh, high-quality fish. Today, 6 Linden in Three Oaks offers fresh fish from Fortune Fish & Gourmet—a founder-run importer, processor, and distributor of premium seafood, specialty meat and gourmet specialty food products—which Flagship also used.

Rachel briefly opened a second location in Benton Harbor in 2019 after noticing that customers were coming from as far away as St. Joseph.

Unlike many businesses that suffered during the pandemic, 2020 turned out to be her best year as people flocked to their second homes in Harbor Country and ventured out only to get food. She says business doubled that year and has been great ever since.

But now it’s time to step back, she says.

“The outpouring of love has been really unbelievable,” she says of the reaction to her giving up the business.

What’s next for Rachel after a well-deserved rest? Though she anticipates she would consult with a new owner of Flagship, the rest is up in the air. “There’s always a future ex-husband around the corner, always another business,” she says with a laugh.

There’s no guarantee a new owner would keep the shop as-is, but judging from its many loyal fans, that would make a lot of sense. Stay tuned.