In 2012 the decision was made to put the business on the market or sell assets to clear debts, but their customers protested loudly.
"I guess I just got pissed off and had enough, but since that decision we had so much support from customers," Mr Robinson said at the time.
"They are saying, you can't do this, our fish is just so much better, consistent and reliable and our ordering system is great," Mr Robinson said.
"The support we have had has been terrific."
The business continued but its primary source of fish was from outside Hawke's Bay.
With overheads on the large Tangaroa Rd property outweighing income from the shop, and Mr Robinson pursuing engineering opportunities, the decision was again made to close Tangaroa Seafoods' doors.
The four staff that ran the shop had other ideas.
"This is a good business, with good clientele," Glenda McCleland said.
"We've had good feedback, it's a good product and with no complaints."
She suggested they run the shop themselves and a call to their airport-bound colleague made the decision unanimous.
They approached Mr Robinson who said it was a good idea.
"I have never owned a business, Glenda hasn't, Sandra hasn't, Margaret had a dairy years and years ago - 30 years ago maybe - so it was a bit of a scary situation," Stevie Rangiawha said.
"He gave us all the phone numbers and a lesson on how to order the fish, who to talk to and what times to ring. We have to do that every morning to make sure we get fresh fish every day."
He suggested Ray McKimm for additional business advice.
The McKimm family bought the former British American Tobacco site in 2007 as a base for their BigSave Furniture business, becoming the largest landholder in the Ahuriri commercial property precinct.
Ray McKimm is more a father figure than landlord to new businesses in his nearby Ahuriri Business Park.
"We showed him all the figures and told him what we were going to do. He did a bit of a business plan for us - he worked it all out in a couple of days - and he said, you have a good little business going."
They closed the doors for a week.
"We had to shut the shop because none of us knew what we were doing. We had to get our head around the fact that we were going to own the business and we needed to go and see people about it - accountants, lawyers, all sorts of people. We had signs of the window saying, sorry we are closed for a week, and we did lose customers."
On October 13 they re-opened and haven't looked back.
"We went without wages for the first two weeks, we all agreed to do that. It was very hard but we are getting a wage now, making money and paying our bills."
Ms McCleland suggested they also stock eggs and vegetables, which now accounts for 30 per cent of turnover.
"The amazing thing is we have always only sold fish but within hours customers were asking, 'May I have lettuce, may I have tomatoes?" she said.
Shortage of local fish supply continues.
The majority is couriered overnight from throughout the country.
"Honestly, you have to race to get the fish. We have to ring at a certain time and if you don't, you miss out. There is just not enough fish out there," Ms Rangiawha said.
Their former boss, now landlord, continues to help them. "Chris is been showing us how to fillet ourselves, and eventually we will fillet our own, that way will be even cheaper for the customer."
