The Plaza Produce Story
The Plaza Produce adventure began in 1978. At that time, John Edwards had become interested in the produce business, even though he had never been in it. He had noticed how busy produce stands like 'The Big Prune' in Duarte and the old 'Irvine Ranch Produce Market' were, and thought, "Hmmmm... There's nothing like that in Glendora. What's stopping me from giving it a try?"
John opened up a 'no frills' produce stand that happened to have a roof and opened up shop. The store was conveniently located right next to 'Mrs. Simmons Bakery' and a door away from the old 'Village Meats Market'. John's youngest son, Chip was appointed boxboy/stockboy and John took over the clerk/produce buyer/sign maker duties. Business, although not exactly booming, was good enough to keep on going.
John's oldest son, Clay stopped by one Saturday morning to help out. He liked the feel of the store and being around the fresh produce, plus through another job, he had become familiar with the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market and its operation. One thing led to another and Clay quit his job. He decided to invest all of his time and money into Plaza Produce. Business improved slightly and they decided to go into the wholesale produce business, delivering fresh produce to local restaurants. John, Clay, and Chip struggled along for a while, but the classic family business problems began and not before long, everyone was looking for a new direction.
Clay bought out his brother and traded his half of another business to his Dad for Plaza Produce. The only problem now was that Clay could not do everything by himself and he was out of money. At this point, after a couple of beers, Clay talked his pal John Dixon into becoming his partner and investing in Plaza Produce. John and Clay decided to throw everything in the store out, remodel, and start fresh. Together they decided to buy only the freshest, finest produce they could find at the Wholesale Produce Market in Downtown LA, and keep their prices as low as they could to offer the best fruits and vegetables in town.
Business boomed. Clay and John were soon selling a whole bunch of fresh produce, bins of nuts, rice, candy, and anything else they could squeeze into their 800 square foot store (including a ridiculous number of little baskets shaped like a duck filled with nuts one Christmas - your Mom may have one in the attic right now!) In the early 1980s, you could go to Plaza Produce for your fresh fruits and vegetables, pick up fresh bakery goods from the bakery, and fresh meat from Village Meats all in one stop. On Saturdays when lots of Glendorans stocked up on fresh food for the week, the parking lot was crazy. On holidays, the parking lot was so out of control, they would have to get someone to direct traffic!
In 1987, Clay bought out John Dixon and decided to move out of the 800 square foot store and move in to a new 3300 square foot store half a block down the street, which is where the store is located today. The move was costly, overhead had increased dramatically and even though business continued to grow, Clay was having a hard time keeping the doors open. He struggled until 1992, knew he was in big trouble, and started looking for help. Clay turned to an old boss who in turn introduced him to his son, Michael Miller. Mike brought badly needed funds and a whole lot of energy to Plaza Produce.
Soon Plaza had a deli, fresh salads, wine, gourmet groceries, and fresh sandwiches. On Friday mornings Clay would go down to the downtown fish market, bringing back fresh fish to Plaza Produce. Once again, business was getting better and better. At about this time, Mike and Clay met Nick Sharp, a butcher who had purchased 'Village Meats' next to the old Plaza location. Mike talked Nick into moving out of the old market he owned and into Plaza Produce. Shortly after, business boomed! In 2000, Nick bought out Mike's share of the store. Clay and Nick put both operations together and became partners, which is how Plaza Produce remained for about 20 years.
In 2006 Michelle was hired and quickly became manager of the store. She came from a restaurant background (some may remember her from El Encanto) and stumbled upon Plaza after moving into the neighborhood. Michelle brought new ideas to the store, started doing the buying, hiring and learning from Clay over the span of 15 years. The plan was set for Clay (when he was ready) to retire and for Michelle to buy his half of Plaza. When that time came in 2021 Plaza had a seamless transition, just as planned.
Today, you can walk into Plaza Produce and enjoy one of their famous Suzi Special sandwiches and classic fresh potato salad for lunch, and walk out with anything from USDA Prime New York steaks, to fresh wild salmon for dinner. Not to mention the fresh fruit and vegetables, painstakingly tested wine, cheese, bread, and more! And if you don't have time to cook, you can even pick up a hot dinner.
John opened up a 'no frills' produce stand that happened to have a roof and opened up shop. The store was conveniently located right next to 'Mrs. Simmons Bakery' and a door away from the old 'Village Meats Market'. John's youngest son, Chip was appointed boxboy/stockboy and John took over the clerk/produce buyer/sign maker duties. Business, although not exactly booming, was good enough to keep on going.
John's oldest son, Clay stopped by one Saturday morning to help out. He liked the feel of the store and being around the fresh produce, plus through another job, he had become familiar with the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market and its operation. One thing led to another and Clay quit his job. He decided to invest all of his time and money into Plaza Produce. Business improved slightly and they decided to go into the wholesale produce business, delivering fresh produce to local restaurants. John, Clay, and Chip struggled along for a while, but the classic family business problems began and not before long, everyone was looking for a new direction.
Clay bought out his brother and traded his half of another business to his Dad for Plaza Produce. The only problem now was that Clay could not do everything by himself and he was out of money. At this point, after a couple of beers, Clay talked his pal John Dixon into becoming his partner and investing in Plaza Produce. John and Clay decided to throw everything in the store out, remodel, and start fresh. Together they decided to buy only the freshest, finest produce they could find at the Wholesale Produce Market in Downtown LA, and keep their prices as low as they could to offer the best fruits and vegetables in town.
Business boomed. Clay and John were soon selling a whole bunch of fresh produce, bins of nuts, rice, candy, and anything else they could squeeze into their 800 square foot store (including a ridiculous number of little baskets shaped like a duck filled with nuts one Christmas - your Mom may have one in the attic right now!) In the early 1980s, you could go to Plaza Produce for your fresh fruits and vegetables, pick up fresh bakery goods from the bakery, and fresh meat from Village Meats all in one stop. On Saturdays when lots of Glendorans stocked up on fresh food for the week, the parking lot was crazy. On holidays, the parking lot was so out of control, they would have to get someone to direct traffic!
In 1987, Clay bought out John Dixon and decided to move out of the 800 square foot store and move in to a new 3300 square foot store half a block down the street, which is where the store is located today. The move was costly, overhead had increased dramatically and even though business continued to grow, Clay was having a hard time keeping the doors open. He struggled until 1992, knew he was in big trouble, and started looking for help. Clay turned to an old boss who in turn introduced him to his son, Michael Miller. Mike brought badly needed funds and a whole lot of energy to Plaza Produce.
Soon Plaza had a deli, fresh salads, wine, gourmet groceries, and fresh sandwiches. On Friday mornings Clay would go down to the downtown fish market, bringing back fresh fish to Plaza Produce. Once again, business was getting better and better. At about this time, Mike and Clay met Nick Sharp, a butcher who had purchased 'Village Meats' next to the old Plaza location. Mike talked Nick into moving out of the old market he owned and into Plaza Produce. Shortly after, business boomed! In 2000, Nick bought out Mike's share of the store. Clay and Nick put both operations together and became partners, which is how Plaza Produce remained for about 20 years.
In 2006 Michelle was hired and quickly became manager of the store. She came from a restaurant background (some may remember her from El Encanto) and stumbled upon Plaza after moving into the neighborhood. Michelle brought new ideas to the store, started doing the buying, hiring and learning from Clay over the span of 15 years. The plan was set for Clay (when he was ready) to retire and for Michelle to buy his half of Plaza. When that time came in 2021 Plaza had a seamless transition, just as planned.
Today, you can walk into Plaza Produce and enjoy one of their famous Suzi Special sandwiches and classic fresh potato salad for lunch, and walk out with anything from USDA Prime New York steaks, to fresh wild salmon for dinner. Not to mention the fresh fruit and vegetables, painstakingly tested wine, cheese, bread, and more! And if you don't have time to cook, you can even pick up a hot dinner.
