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For years, East Palo Alto city officials have attempted to convince developers to build a supermarket in town so residents don’t have to drive to other cities to buy their groceries.
Now, it looks like the city may finally get a supermarket, and without the city doing anything to make it happen.
“It’s a happy coincidence,” Mayor Ruben Abrica said.
Mi Pueblo, a San Jose-based company that operates 11 markets in Northern California, including one in Mountain View, wants to move into the former Circuit City store in the Gateway 101 Shopping Center. The shopping center store owners have to vote, in the next 10 days, to approve the market.
The city, which owns a small piece of the center that includes Home Depot, has already approved the idea by a 3-2 City Council vote Tuesday night. Councilmen A. Peter Evans and David Woods dissented.
“We’ve been forever trying to get a supermarket in town and now it’s happening on its own,” Abrica said.
A developer has proposed building a market as part of a larger development at Bay Road and University Avenue but wants to build a condominium high-rise as part of the deal, Abrica said. Mi Pueblo moving into the Circuit City building near U.S. Highway 101 wouldn’t rule out a second market being built on Bay Road, Abrica said.
The Circuit City store is about 15,000 square feet and would have to be converted for supermarket use.
“A supermarket would be a great addition to our community,” Abrica said. “The community has been asking for one for a long time.”
East Palo Alto hasn’t had a supermarket since a former Palo Alto Co-Op Market, which briefly occupied the Bay Road and University Avenue site, closed in the early 1970s.
Mi Pueblo is based in San Jose and has stores in Hayward (2), Modesto (2), Mountain View, Watsonville, Oakland, Salinas and San Jose (3), with a 12th market set to open in Pittsburg.
Mi Pueblo was founded in 1991 by Juvenal Chavez, who had been employed at Stanford University washing test tubes when he decided to quit Stanford and go into business with his brother, who was running a small market.
The proposed East Palo Alto Mi Pueblo would have 175-225 employees and generate $800,000 to $1.2 million in sales-tax revenue a year based on sales of $15-20 million a year, according to the company’s proposal. The market would be open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. 365 days a year.
The diet for many EPA and Palo Alto families is going to be macaroni and cheese/ beans and rice for the next 3-5 years.
One of the more popular u tube videos is “ depression cooking” demonstrating cheap meals from the 30s
Tesco is in trouble and Whole Paycheck Foods is on a down ward track with no end in sight,
Relief. Safeway Midtown parking lot won’t be so packed.
Until EPA honestly faces the reason Littleman’s, Co-Op and the Whiskey Gulch Safeway closed, they can whistle for a store.
Finally we get a supermarket!!! Safeway on Middlefield is packed with Palo Alto residents who don’t know how to park. I’m pretty sure Palo Alto residents will venture out this way like they do for our other stores!!!!!!!!!
terrific news!
ILOVE_EPA, are you willing to support a guarantee that a supermarket will not be subjected to:
People loading a cart with perishables, waiting for the total, then saying “That’s too much” and walking out.
Open encouragement of shoplifting and vandalism.
Continuous harassment and nuisance picketing.
Blackmail.
Lacking such an understanding no one would invest there.
Just say no to Poverty Pimps and Community Organizers and Halbstark Hoodies, cut the cord with Palo Alto and the Feds and stand proud.
I’m all for it dude!!!!!! My city has certainly had a cosmetic change the pass few years and I think it’s great.
it’s a great news for us and for the city. now we don’t have to drive a couple of miles to buy a milk.
This sounds like a small mexican flavored chain. Can you tell us more? Will it be full service, or only catering to mexican staples? Will we be able to stop there to buy non mexican items on the way back from Ikea or Home Depot? This information would be very useful.
Mi Pueblo is a chain of about 12 stores. If you want to see what the stores look like and what they carry, check this link and explore. http://www.mipueblofoods.com/index.php
I find it distressing that all the signs in the store are in Spanish —This just perpetuates the problems of integration.
It also shows the dramatic demographic changes in EPA, many people think of it as a Black community but the majority of the population is now overwhelmingly non-Black.
When will those high schools open?
…to bring him here with the rest of us to 2009! Apparently, the whistles are working well, and you can bet pesos to pollo they’ll open the grocery store. EPA needs the $$, residents need groceries close by. The police need to be able to chase the criminals who will undoubtedly target the store, from their nearby Starbucks post – perhaps they can save on gas $$ and lower their carbon footprint. I am all for a grocery store in my town, more eco-friendly cops ‘n robbers scenarios and a stronger tax base for EPA. Vive Mi Pueblo!
Where have you been, demographically-speaking? Blacks in EPA have NOT been in the majority for a looooong time now. Que sera, sera.
OK, but many Palo Altans are living in the past, their “white guilt” over black slavery, which ended hundreds of years ago, leads to all sorts of prejudicial and patronizing attitudes towards EPA residents, thanks for upgrading them from the 60s to the 21st century.
The new issue is Latin American immigrants who do not integrate because they do not speak English as their main language.
This puts their kids at a handicap.
We can learn from Europe that now sees– too late– that multi culturism is a disaster.
E Pluribus Unum works, let us promote it for the sake of the next generation.
Peter –
Thanks for the link. This looks like a great market! I personally love the fresh produce and friendly staff in Hispanic markets.
Most markets are super clean, and the staff who work there are incredibly friendly. Many make our Midtown Safeway look like a dump.
Congratulations to the opening of this new store.
East Palo Alto residents, you are welcome to shop at our lousy Safeway anytime you want.
If we ever get a supermarket in again at Edgewood Plaza, please feel free to shop there too. We have shared this market with our East Palo Alto neighbors for nearly 50 years.
“The proposed East Palo Alto Mi Pueblo would have 175-225 employees “
I don’t know anything about running a grocery store, but that sounds like a lot of employees for a store that size. Best wishes to the store anyway.
This is a great news for East Palo Alto! This will only improve the quality of life for all. We need to stay focused on the positive, and for those who insist on focusing only the negative, please, please stay away!. EPA is definitely moving in the right direction.
It was not Blacks, but activists of all colors who, starting with the grape boycott, established a pattern of assailing supermarkets. Any business needs assurance that such activities will not be allowed. Look at the Littleman’s lot and ask yourself why it sits unused, and what have you changed.
Mi Pueblo is not a good grocery store for this community. I’ve been to the one in Hayward and their prices are not good. Residents may as well keep traveling to Safeway.
Lets remember that Safeway and Lucky/Albertsons did not want to do business with EPA. We need a grocery store now! We can not continue to have generations waiting for something so normal in most communities. People will always shop around for the deals and I am sure that Mi Pueblo will also offer weekly sales.
I’ve lived in East Palo Alto since I was a boy in the ’70’s. Funny how now that all of the Blacks have been moved out, and the whites ushered in that the city has suddenly “seen the light!” I’m glad to be gone (20 years and counting…).
As of 2003–“The racial makeup of EPA was 6.98% White,
16.03% African American,
0.93% Native American, 2.03% Asian, 9.63% Pacific Islander (mainly Tongan and Samoan immigrants)[citation needed], 36.73% from other races, and 5.56% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 72.79% of the population.”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Palo_Alto,_California
So, given the demographics, a Mexican supermarket makes sense
What is Wrong with all the local flavor that we have in the city. We have several local grocery stores in town that provide good service to me and the rest of the community. I can get my meat and grocerys at several of the local grocery stores in town. They provide great service to our community and they support us when we are in need and they prices are fair and resonable. I sometimes shop else where and i think the local grocery store prices are cheaper than the big suppermarkets that the city wants to put in. I can at least get a gallon of milk for under 3.00 and if they are on special i can get 2 for 5. Not to mention the produce that some of these stores get. I see that they are fresh.
As a resident in the community i think that we should stick behind our local grocery stores that have been servicing our communities through several generations. We should all stand up and not allow a grocery chain to come in to town and treat us like another number.
At least at my local grocery store they treat me and my community like family. These local grocery store owners and employees have a duty to make us feel comfortable and treat us with great service. They live off our dollars spent at their stores so they benefit and to reap the benefits they treat our community very well and provide execptional pricing and service to the community.
I say lets keep the small town feel and vote no on another giant comming into our city and crowding our roadways. Lets Provide and incentive to possibly one of the local grocers to expand their business and continue to provide us with excelent service.
To all my local city council members and mayor and vice mayor lets not make another small business go under in the struggling times. Our president is willing to help promote small business.
After all small business make up 80% of the us economy.
So lets all go to the city council meetings and help support our local grocery stores.
For those of you who complain that you have to drive to safeway or another giant maybe you should consider shopping at these local grocery stores and see the differnce and the services that these local grocer’s offer. you will be amazed. I was.
NO NO to the Giant Supermarket that will come in a shut our local Grocery stores.
a concerned citizen in the community of east palo alto for over 25 years.
I love it, I’m sorry for those small markets who feel they’ll loose business, but I hate that fact that they have no parking, and the fact that I have to go to three markets to get what I need. Finally a market where I can get everything I need plus, there’s plenty parking. If the safeways or Lucky’s don’t want to come in to EPA, too bad for them, GO Mi Pueblo!!!
I have lived in East Palo Alto for over 40 years and know that it is absolutely time for us to welcome a large grocery store into the community. None of the other “All American” stores have wanted to come in to our community so why do we keep waiting. The owners of these little grocery stores are also NEW to the community and DO NOT LiVE HERE and can not make the decisions for OUR city! The free market is about competition and it’s about time we had some.
Mexicans are Americans!!
The city and its officials are begining to stink. The Smell is comming out.. hmmmmmm sounds like some one is getting fat pockets
Sounds like a good plan but we dont what some one the states “knowbody knows hispanics like we do” in the city. The statment of mr chaves clearly shows the biased and the motive for comming into our community.
So do this sound like some one we want to support. I say Put the space out to the open market and get a non biased operator.
I thought racisim was over in this world……
So, One comment was made earlier by Trini, “The owners of these little grocery stores are also NEW to the community and DO NOT LiVE HERE and can not make the decisions for OUR city!”
As a mater of fact i know several of the business owners that do live in East palo alto. wonder if Mr Chavez Lives in east palo alto, Can any one confirm that.
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