Something Fishy nets Jordan’s with new line of furniture

John Howell
Posted 2/19/15

Fish have taken Kurt Harrington a long way. Now he figures he’s only a step away from meeting his billionaire inspiration, Warren Buffet.

This evening, a select group of business leaders and …

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Something Fishy nets Jordan’s with new line of furniture

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Fish have taken Kurt Harrington a long way. Now he figures he’s only a step away from meeting his billionaire inspiration, Warren Buffet.

This evening, a select group of business leaders and friends will experience how he expects to do that as they enjoy drinks and conversation, in a setting that offers a bit of living room, kitchen and office conference room. The location is Something Fishy at 1185 Jefferson Boulevard.

They will hear Mayor Scott Avedisian and Dr. Stephen Coan, CEO of Mystic Aquarium, talk about the company Harrington founded in 1993 at the age of 15. He started with cleaning the fish tank of his dentist at $12 a month. Now the company that grew out of that, Something Fishy, employs 12 and has contracts with Foxwoods, Cabela’s, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Mystic Aquarium, and Google, among others. The company also has an extensive residential client base.

Now Harrington is taking aquariums to a new level with the store on Jefferson Boulevard. There’s a room with walls of tanks filled with colorful and uniquely shaped fish indigenous to other, more exotic parts of the world. The room has a waist-high shallow pool with intense lights that seem equal to the sun at the equator. On racks, there are polyps of choral, with delicate tendrils pulsating in the clear moving water.

Harrington calls the room “The vault.”

Guests will want to see the vault; it’s all about what goes into an aquarium. But what Harrington will unveil, after more than two years of development, is a new line of business, with a fishy theme and a partnership with Jordan’s Furniture. While guests will see angelfish, clown fish – just like Nemo – zebra fish, neons and some from the world of catfish, Harrington will be drawing attention to the “Bellevue,” the “Narragansett” and the “Mystic,” among others: All pieces of furniture that incorporate aquariums to bring live fish into a living room, kitchen and bath.

Jordan’s is selling the furniture manufactured at Cabinet Gallery in Woonsocket from its store in Reading, Mass., next month. From there, as staff is trained and customers respond, Harrington expects the furniture will be available at all Jordan’s stores.

He sees a huge market – an ocean of customers, so to speak. He said industry studies say 14.3 million Americans own fresh water fish tanks and another 1.8 million have saltwater tanks. He puts the number of Rhode Islanders with tanks at 50,000.

So how did Harrington get from fish to furniture?

The answer: fish.

Only, instead of the slippery scaly kind, Harrington went for Swedish Fish and a 1-gallon bowl.

As a member of the Central Rhode Island Chamber, Harrington was invited to an event in early 2012, following the December 2011 grand opening of Jordan’s at the Warwick Mall. Harrington got to hear Eliot Tatelman, Jordan’s founder, describe the store and what he was bringing to Rhode Island. It was at that point that Harrington reached the conclusion; “As an entrepreneur, I needed to know this guy.”

And, of course, he wanted to introduce Tatelman to his concept of “living art” and furniture. Harrington sent Tatelman a bowl of candy Swedish Fish, along with a letter thanking him for the reception at Jordan’s and mentioning his concept.

A week went by. Then Harrington got a voice mail from Tatelman saying he loved the fish bowl, calling it “awesome” and “fabulous.” What’s more, he left his personal cell phone number.

Harrington figured he’d hooked the “big one.”

He immediately called Tatelman and while Tatelman expressed interest, he wanted to see and hear more. No commitment. In fact, it sort of looked like nothing was going to happen.

Six months went by before contact was resumed and Harrington met with Tatelman and his sons, Josh and Michael, and other personnel at Jordan’s. They wanted to see prototypes and their answers about the production of the furniture, the financing and the training of personnel if Jordan’s would be selling the furniture.

Harrington went a step further. He redesigned his showroom to integrate the new furniture. Furthermore, he’s altering the role of the store that has been mostly an outlet for fish, aquariums and related supplies.

Employing a concept that has worked for Starbucks, Harrington is inviting his customers to come enjoy coffee, use his wi-fi, relax in the living room, talk with Something Fishy biologists and experts, and meet with other hobbyists.

As for his partnership with Jordan’s, Harrington has set a goal to sell 100 pieces of his furniture in the first year, although he believes 500 is a realistic hope. The units range from $2,000 to $10,000 and Harrington is projecting sales to average $3,500.

Harrington said specifics of the Jordan’s agreement are confidential, although Something Fishy will solely handle service of the units sold should the customer want it.

Reached yesterday, Mayor Scott Avedisian applauded Harrington’s ingenuity and the partnership with Jordan’s.

“With Rhode Island being known as the Ocean State and with Warwick having 39 miles of coastline, it is very fitting that Something Fishy and Jordan’s Furniture are offering a new line of handcrafted aquarium furniture,” he said in an email.

Harrington’s future plans include bringing the concept to W.B. Mason and Claflin Medical Equipment Co., also based in Warwick, that provides equipment to nursing homes. The therapeutic value of aquariums is what Harrington is seeking to promote.

A native of Ashaway, Harrington has one sister and four brothers, one of which is a twin. In fact, his twin, Donnie, started Something Fishy with him.

After graduating from Chariho High School, Harrington attended URI for two years and studied business administration before leaving to focus on growing the company.

And as for meeting Warren Buffet, Harrington figures Tatelman will help him do that. Jordan’s is one of the many assets Berkshire Hathaway, Buffet’s holding company, owns.

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