Located in Woodland Hills, Jim’s Fallbrook Market has stood the test of time.
It opened in 1946 as a small grocery stand along the desolate Fallbrook Avenue, rotating through various owners. In the early 1950s, butcher Jim McQuaid began renting space in the store for a meat counter, which he later purchased in 1955.
As the Woodland Hill community shifted from a collection of citrus groves and other farmland, the market became popular among residents, making it one of the oldest mom-and-pop grocers in the Valley. It remained within the McQuaid family until 2022, when Frank Ashkar took over as the city and the world, for that matter, emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic. While it’s a tough time to run a grocery store, Ashkar still sees this market as a hidden gem.
“(It’s) the loyalty of the customers,” says Ashkar. “They come to Jim’s, and they treat us as a family; you’re not going to find another place like this.”
But Ashkar admits it hasn’t been an easy journey to keep a brand with so much history alive – especially in the current economic environment laden with higher inflation and constantly shifting consumer shopping habits.
“Every single business in California is getting hurt right now, but it has hurt us really bad so far,” says Ashkar, adding that he raised prices on everything, particularly on produce and many of their meats. “I’ve been doing business for 25 years now, (and) this is the worst I’ve ever seen it.”
Yet there are the long-time customers and their expectations for the market. They consistently voice their concerns, even about the smallest of changes like food items that are no longer found on store shelves or new signage. Then in 2022, the store lost one of its biggest draws for the community – a neighborhood weekend barbecue in the store parking lot offering everything from ribs, chicken, pulled pork sandwiches and burgers. It was the go-to event in the neighborhood for more than a decade. But it became a source of contention with a neighboring resident, and it was soon shut down.
Ashkar is working on getting some food trucks to come on the weekends and draw in the crowds again.
“I’m trying my best to bring a few people, but it’s (been) hard,” he says.
The best cuts in town
Through his experience with other businesses, Ashkar says Jim’s will thrive because of its welcoming environment and consistent service, despite the different and new circumstances. To combat some of the store’s struggles, Ashkar is offering an array of deals on drinks, and the store continues to make baked goods like cookies and cakes in-house for customers.
One area that will remain the star attraction for Jim’s: its offering of premium-quality meats from Selma-based Harris Ranch Beef Co. The meat department prides itself not only offering high-quality, but they also still cut the meat offerings by hand.
“You cannot find (that) anywhere else; the deli guys are always doing a good job,” Ashkar says.
Beyond the cuts of meats, the deli department is known for its various salads, including potato and mac salad, as well customers love its mango salsa.
“I used to go somewhere else before working here, but the meat here is so good, and there’s a big community,” says one of the butchers before he started working at the market. “We do our best to make the customer happy.”
Marriane Watt began shopping at the market with her father as a kid in the early 1960s, and in over five decades, it has always been a “neighborhood place,” more so than the big-box grocers and other markets, Watt says.
“It’s very cold in a big store, they may have what you want all the time, but they don’t know your name,” says Watt, who joined the market as a cashier three years ago. “I know all my customers’ names…we try to help our customers; they expect that about us.”
Watt adds that she and her fellow colleagues are more like a family, which lends to the market’s legacy.
“We look out for each other in a way that you wouldn’t get at a bigger chain,” she says.
Despite the challenges that came with the ownership change, Ashkar says the store will forever maintain its friendly and old-school vibe – and he hopes that through whatever changes may come, the community will continue to show up.
He also remains quite optimistic about the future of his market amid the current economic environment, considering its foothold in the neighborhood.
“We still survive, and we still provide excellent service,” he says. “The neighbors try to do the best they can to help us, and we will continue as long as we can.”
