Central Fish has thrived for 75 years in Fresno's Chinatown. What's next?

Yahoo

04-05-2025

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The anchor of Fresno's Chinatown, Central Fish Co. has thrived for 75 years by building a loyal customer base and selling products sold nowhere else in the region.
Owner Morgan Doizaki has run the family-owned store — which is also a fish wholesaler and restaurant — since he took over the 1535 Kern St. mainstay in 2003.
He grew up in Los Angeles but would work at Central Fish during the summers off from school. He was still in college studying business when he convinced his family to let him take over Central Fish, and transferred to Fresno Pacific University.
But the shop goes back to 1950, when Doizaki's great-uncle, Akira Yokomi, opened a store around the corner on Kern and F streets. Doizaki said his uncle, who was born in Fowler and known by the nickname 'Okie,' wanted to cater to shoppers who were not already shopping at other Japanese markets in the area.
'It's a very unique place that brings a lot of people here of all types, you know, from a homeless person to a millionaire, from a judge to a student,' he said. 'And it's a destination spot too.'
The 44-year-old said he still meets shoppers who are older than him who reminisce about Yokomi giving them candy when they were little.
Doizaki said Central Fish offers less commonly found meats, continuing his great-uncle's legacy of finding a niche in the market. There's an array of Cajun, Portuguese and Hawaiian sausages and products, as well as Japanese snacks and mushrooms customers won't see on other stores' shelves.
But the real star of the show at Central Fish is just that — the fish. When a diner sits down to enjoy sushi or a cut of salmon in Fresno, there's a high likelihood it came through Fresno's Chinatown.
'I say we don't sell price, we sell quality. And that separates us,' he said. 'It's going into quality sushi restaurants and white tablecloth restaurants and saying, 'We sell quality stuff.' That keeps the standards high and keeps our reputation a certain way.'
Then there's the restaurant. Doizaki said everything is made in-house, and he's seen success lately with a new menu item called the Inflation Fighter. That comes in a couple of different forms whether chicken or seafood with rice and a drink that totals $9.99 after tax.
Running what amounts to three businesses in one has its unique struggles.
'Only a crazy man would say, 'Hey, you want to start a business. Yeah, but why don't you open up a restaurant, fish market and all in the same house?' ' he said. 'It's kind of madness.'
One emerging market for fish sellers, he said, is small catering parties that were spawned during the pandemic. A buyer can go into Central Fish and buy a large cut of sushi-quality fish and make rolls at home for friends and family, cutting out the expenses that come with buying it at a restaurant.
Like any business that's been around for decades, Central Fish has seen ups and downs, including an unspeakable tragedy, but its been able to continue to adapt, he said.
In 1996, Yokomi was murdered by a former employee in a crime that shocked the city. The 75-year-old was doing some paperwork after hours inside Central Fish on June 24 of that year when the former employee and a 14-year-old accomplice confronted Yokomi.
The two had hidden behind some boxes until the store emptied out. The former employee stabbed Yokomi in the chest from across a desk before running around it to stab him several more times. The killer was sentenced to life in prison.
Doizaki has fond memories of Yokomi, who was killed when Doizaki was 16.
'He was the nicest guy ever,' he said. 'When people talk stories about him, it just solidifies in my head, like, they don't make people like this anymore.'
Many businesses in Chinatown — Chef Paul's, La Elegante and Ho Ho Kafe, to name a few — survive by being a destination. They're not picking up business off of foot traffic so much as being a place where residents who know what they want are going to make the trip.
Central Fish is Chinatown's flagship in many ways, according to Jan Minami, the project director for Chinatown Fresno Foundation.
'I think it's a good place to start when you think about revitalization, and Morgan is such a strong advocate for the whole neighborhood,' she said. 'His business is really important, but his attitude is equally important to the neighborhood, because he hears a lot of things. He knows what's going on.'
Chinatown and much of downtown is going through a transformation between the high-speed rail construction and the now-delayed $200 million downtown investment Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in 2023.
Chinatown has been choked by construction in recent years, and Central Fish sits in the middle of much of it. The city is also replacing water lines throughout Chinatown.
Doizaki said he's optimistic about what the future holds. Central Fish has come a long way from when he took over what was a failing business in 2003.
'We've positioned ourselves to hopefully benefit from all this investment coming in, infrastructure and all this stuff and high speed rail,' Doizaki said. 'We want to be a part of this revitalization.'
'When I came here in 2003 I had a five-year plan. I'm still here, and I don't think I'm going anywhere, because I want to see this place succeed, this area succeed.'
Central Fish at 1535 Kern St. is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, and stays open 30 minutes later on Friday and Saturday. For more, go to www.centralfish.com.