Rick Erwin Dining Group has big plans to renew, refresh, and relocate Rick Erwin’s Nantucket Seafood 

Guests celebrating Valentine’s Day at Nantucket Seafood will be among the last to eat dinner at the West Broad Street location the restaurant has called home for the past 12 years. The longtime tenant is moving out to make room for a new concept and taking the opportunity to redesign the restaurant before reopening in a new location.

“Nantucket Seafood has been a staple in downtown Greenville since 2010, and we want to thank the community for their support over the years,” says Rick Erwin Dining Group Owner & Chief Financial Officer Michael Ivey. “We also recognize that a lot has changed in the 15 years since that restaurant was originally designed, and we’re ready to see it evolve. When we reopen you’ll notice big changes.”

Instead of trying to renovate the existing space, the decision was made to relocate and start fresh with an updated look and feel. “Our goal is to keep the restaurant downtown. We are engaged in several conversations and working through a shortlist of options to determine the best path forward,” says Ivey.

There will not be any layoffs as a result of the temporary closure. Nantucket Seafood employees will be transferred to fill open positions at other locations, including Saltwater Kitchen, the dining group’s casual seafood concept at Haywood Mall, which is set to reopen on March 2. Once Nantucket reopens, they will have the option to stay where they are or return to their previous positions.

“Our employees are the backbone of our organization and we always want to make sure they’re taken care of,” says Ivey. “The timing of these moves was important so we could preserve jobs and retain our employees. Plus, we are now fully staffed for the Saltwater Kitchen reopening instead of scrambling to find new hires during an industry-wide labor shortage. Everybody wins.”