About

Meet the Owners

Hi, we’re Chris and Erika Thompson.

We’re a husband-and-wife team, high school sweethearts, and graduates of Marist College, now raising our two children here in the Capital Region.

Before taking ownership of fin – your fishmonger®, we launched NORTHWAY meals in the spring of 2025 with a simple goal: make mealtime easier and bring people together around the table. As that business grew, so did our desire to build something lasting in the community we call home.

Prior to entrepreneurship, Chris built his career in sales management, and Erika spent a decade in HR and retail leadership. Those experiences shaped how we approach business today, with a focus on connection, deep respect for team culture and customer experience.

When Dora and Pete began planning their retirement, we saw an opportunity to continue fin’s legacy and step confidently into its next chapter.

Today, Chris leads sourcing and daily operations, working closely with our vendors directly from Boston and ensuring the seafood in our case meets the standard fin customers expect. Erika focuses on customer experience, team, and long-term growth.

You’ll find both of us here involved in the daily operations, Chris in the kitchen and Erika behind the fish counter, committed to honoring what fin has always been while carefully shaping what comes next.

fin’s History & Founders

Back in 2010, there were no local, fresh, sustainable, seafood markets in New York’s Capital District, so partners (in life and in business), Peter Kenyon and Dora Swan, decided to do something about it. It’s that simple!

fin – your fishmonger® began at the Saturday Delmar Farmers’ Market, where founders Pete and Dora set up a tent focused on one thing: high-quality, sustainably sourced seafood.

During that first market season, word spread quickly. By the second Saturday, lines of returning customers stretched 20 minutes long. When the farmers’ market season ended, customers continued to show up and fin continued to serve them. Throughout that first winter, Pete and Dora operated from a hardware store parking lot in Delmar, arriving each week in a refrigerated truck after hours of cutting, packaging, labeling, and preparing nearly 100 pre-orders alongside dozens of walk-up customers.

What began under a tent steadily grew into a year-round storefront at 2050 Western Avenue in Guilderland, which opened in December 2012.

In its first year as a storefront, fin was named Best Fresh Fish/Seafood in the Hudson Valley and Best Seafood Market in New York’s Capital Region. The shop has continued to earn regional recognition over the years, including multiple Besties awards for Seafood and Chowder.

Long before seafood sustainability became a broader conversation, fin helped bring that dialogue to the Capital Region. Pete and Dora were early advocates for responsible sourcing and customer education, building a business rooted in integrity, transparency, and strong community relationships.

Today, they are enjoying retirement, traveling and spending time with their eight grandchildren — while the foundation they built continues to shape fin’s future.