Shucking for fame and fortune

Profit Magazine
November 2002
By MICHAEL DOJC

A conspicuous heap of half-shells lies under a tree outside Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill on the fringe of downtown Toronto. No, the restaurant isn't scrimping on garbage bags — the pile is just one the marketing ploys Patrick McMurray uses to keep his 68-seater buzzing.

"It's better than any sandwich board you could buy," he says. "Every single person who walks past it stops." Now McMurray is using his brand-new title — World Oyster Opening Champion — to draw even more patrons to his year-old business.

Getting exposure for a young restaurant without a big ad budget is difficult, says McMurray. Reviewers cover an eatery once, and don't come back for ages. Starfish's location on the east end of Adelaide Street, a one-way commuter route nearly devoid of pedestrians, doesn't help McMurray's cause.

So the entrepreneur looks for ways to keep Starfish in the spotlight. His victory at the shucking contest, held in September in Ireland, generated coverage in the National Post. Just days after McMurray sent a picture of himself competing in a Roots jersey to Michael Budman, the Roots co-founder dined at Starfish with Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones — something every other patron that night surely has mentioned to a dozen friends. The champ is also considering producing a Patrick McMurray shucking knife for retail sale.