Fisher’s Popcorn, the Delaware beach staple, is planning to build a production facility in Frankford that will boost its wholesale operation.
The company currently sells its products online and in more than 2,000 grocery stores across the country, including select Giant, Weis and Food Lion locations. The new facility will more than quadruple its space for manufacturing and wholesale operations and increase bag-packing capabilities from eight bags per minute to 30 to 35 bags per minute.
Fisher’s plans to spend $4.85 million on the 10,000-square-foot facility. It will be built on 17 acres on Route 20 just off the Route 113 corridor. The company’s current production facility is in Fenwick Island.
As part of the expansion, Fisher’s plans to hire 20 employees for its manufacturing and wholesale operations, bringing its employee count for that side of the business to 42.
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Fisher’s Popcorn traces its lineage to 1937 when Everett Fisher and his wife’s cousin Edmund Pusey opened Pixton’s Popcorn on the Ocean City, Maryland boardwalk. Pusey soon after left the business and Fisher continued under his own name.
In 1983, a granddaughter of Fisher, Marty Hall, opened a store in Fenwick Island at Route 54 and Coastal Highway. That branch of the family runs the Delaware operation, which includes stores in Fenwick Island, Bethany Beach and Rehoboth Beach and the wholesale business.
The Maryland group has the original Ocean City boardwalk location and a West Ocean City store opened last year, in addition to a fundraising business.
The state’s Council on Development Finance on Monday approved up to $205,500 in taxpayer grants to support the expansion. The grant money comes from the Delaware Strategic Fund, a pool of state money intended to draw businesses to Delaware and retain them. The grants support Fisher’s capital expenses and job expansion.
Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @holveck_brandon.
