The Shelves Are Empty

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You might remember a mention I made in my story a couple of weeks ago about the budding prospects for grocery options in the Greater Logan Heights area, where those options are few.

A local grocer with a downtown produce store called Market 32 had opened a little produce mart in the big pink Farmers Market building on 22nd Street and Imperial Avenue, which was mostly empty.

Two weeks ago a makeshift produce mart opened in the building's main parcel.

Mark Rillos, who was tending the register and looking over the small selection of fruit and vegetables, said the owner was waiting to determine whether there was enough of a market to expand. Though business was good, he said, he reduced the quantity of produce from the first week's stock because they hadn't sold it fast enough to keep it from rotting.

"People are still hearing about us," he said.

I was driving by the building yesterday afternoon and saw a couple of people loading up a small pickup truck. I got a glance of the building's inside and noticed the shelves were empty.

I pulled into the parking lot and asked the two men if they were affiliated with the store.

One of them, Matt Amoia, was the owner. He'd decided to close shop.

"It's been slow," he said.

-- ADRIAN FLORIDO

1 Comments so far on this story...

What a shame. Great he tried, but it takes a while to get folks attuned to such a thing. Too bad some (faith-based?; civic?) organization couldn't guarantee that unsold produce would be purchased on a cost+ basis and distributed to shelters or food banks until the produce stand got it's legs under it. Nobody is in business to lose money, so I understand.

Posted by Hugh | reply to this comment
October 2, 2009 5:18 am

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