We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Apos and Maggie Kourakis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Apos and Maggie, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love for you to start by sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of family businesses.

Running a family business is one of the hardest yet most rewarding things we have done. It takes commitment from the whole family, not just us, the business-owners. Our kids and parents help with their flexibility and offers to help both at home and at work even though they did not sign up for this adventure. W e could not accomplish our daily goals without them.

A big driver in deciding to transition from our 9-5 careers to our family business was the idea of “flexibility of schedule.” We wanted to be able to take our kids to school, attend recitals, and be there for lessons, which we now are able to do most days, but we also must take care of the needs of the business with passion and dedication to keep it growing and make up for that absence throughout other times of the day. Sometimes we are at the store past midnight finishing projects or preparing for a busy holiday. We give up a 2-day weekend to have more quality time during the week, which works for us. The business becomes a member of the family and plays a part in shaping the lives of everyone involved. We are all passionate about it, and we appreciate the wonderful opportunity to be a part of an amazing community through our family business.

Apos and Maggie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Tom’s Seafood & Gourmet Market has been a part of the Lakewood community for 24 years. We are the third owners, and we have built from the great foundation that Tom started back in 1998 of bringing the freshest (not previously frozen) fish to the Rockies.

Apos and Maggie are geoscientists who moved to the area in 2017. We were big fans of Tom’s as customers, and when the opportunity to purchase Tom’s presented itself, we jumped on it, having a long-time dream of running a gourmet market. We have fun exploring spices and sauces from around the world and bringing them to Lakewood for our customers. We are always open to suggestions for our shelves!

We have expanded the daily selections and added a number of gourmet specialty foods to our selection from local, domestic and international vendors. We have several sashimi-grade options and everything you need for a sushi or paella night! We strive to bring you the best seafood you can find!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

We have found that the best source of new clients is pre-existing clients. We try our best to provide excellent customer service, a welcoming environment, and high-quality products every time a customer visits our store. When customers feel appreciated and valued they want to share that experience with their friends and family. We have found that personal recommendations are valued, and customers remind us daily that they stopped by because a friend shared our fish with them or told them about their experience with our store.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Consistency. We strive for the highest quality product every day. We also try our best to make shopping with us an enjoyable experience in a welcoming environment. Customer satisfaction is the key to a good reputation. One bad day can turn off dozens of customers, some of whom may never give you a second chance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tomsseafood.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomsseafood/
• Facebook: @TomsSeafoodLakewood

Image Credits
Jen Creed of Jen Creed Creative (www.jencreedcreative.com)