Our Story

The original City Market located at 1207 Gloucester Street, right next to the Brunswick fire department.

City Market Seafood tells a story of rich family history in the seafood industry. Upon the death of his father in 1948, the year he graduated from Glynn Academy, E.W (Captain Red) Stanford continued to work where his father had worked for many years at City Market. After a few years of working for the Sigman family, Harold Sigman sold him the business for, as the story goes, 300 dollars. At the time, City Market was located at 1207 Gloucester St, in an old dirt floored building. After a few years of working from this old facility, business outgrew the building.

In 1970, Captain Red knew it was time for an upgrade. So, he bought land a few blocks away at 1508 Gloucester St. and began construction on a more modern facility with a drive-up restaurant next door called the Georgia Fry House. This new market opened in 1971, and with a few additions, this is where we're still located today! The years went on as Red raised his family of 4 girls while running the market. In 1976, his first grandson Frank (Little Red) Owens was born, and from that point on, Red was rarely seen without Little Red by his side. Business continued to grow over the years as City Market began selling shrimp to most restaurants in the area as well as invested in several semi-retired women to peel shrimp, a few of which are still peeling for us today .

The demand for shrimp became too high for the supply he could get, so in the early 1980s, Red purchased a dock and shrimp packing house on the Brunswick riverfront. At this packing house or “the dock” as we call it at City Market, local boats unload year-round in order to ensure only the freshest shrimp are supplied to our customers.

In 2003, Captain Red went on to the City Market in the sky and left a legacy remembered by many locals to this day. Frank “Little Red" Owens took over the business and continues to run City Market today with the help of his son Walker Owens and brother Bruce Collins Jr. , while Reds son-in-law Bruce Collins Sr. was left to manage the Dock. As we have for 75 years, we strive to supply only the freshest seafood for many generations to come. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued support of this local family business.