Soto’s Market reopening with emphasis on organic, healthy foods

Lots of North Coast residents are talking about a historic Cambria marketplace’s latest iteration. Drum roll please: Soto’s True Earth Market opens at 3 p.m. Friday. The new hours are set at 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., at least during the winter.

There’s been a market at 2244 Main St. since 1919, and during this recent, brief closure for remodeling, the shopping-deli venue has been missed.

Various Cambrians have written recently on Facebook about their enthusiasm for the updated concept developed by partners Andre and Marcela Ponce of Cambria and Joe Vergara and Joleen Tafoya of San Luis Obispo.

Among those anxious to cross the marketplace threshold again is Karen Snow, member of the founding Soto family. She and husband Curt Snow owned and operated Soto’s Market from 1977 to 1991. Her parents and grandparents had been the owner-operators before that.

“Isn’t it exciting?” Karen Snow exulted Monday, about the upcoming launch of the revamped store. “I wish them all the success in the world, and I hope they enjoy it in the process.”

Snow commented on the new owners’ emphasis on healthy, organic, non-GMO products. “I think it’s a great idea. It should be wonderful. As far as I know, there’s nothing in this area that specifically addresses that. There’s a lot of call for that kind of market. Yes, you can get organic, non-GMO at the Friday farmers market … but what if you need it on Tuesday?”

The new plan

The energetic young couples say they want to provide the community with a shopping option that emphasizes “socially responsible products, local sourcing, customer service and community involvement.”

Andre Ponce said Monday that they’ve modeled the store’s concept somewhat on Sunshine Health Foods in Morro Bay. He said Soto’s True Earth Market wants to provide the same kind of experience for North Coast residents and visitors.

The partners are opening the market areas first, to be followed in a month or so by their relaunch of Soto’s deli, with ready-to-eat entrees and sides.

The store will offer natural foods in many forms, including fresh local produce and packaged meats. Once the deli opens, they’ll add sustainable meats and seafood, fresh juices and smoothies, organic sandwiches, meals-in-a-bowl and prepared salads. They hope to offer local wine and beer as soon as the deli opens.

Since the quartet bought the business on Jan. 1, they and quite a few of their friends have been scrubbing and sawing, staining and sealing, revamping and updating the store.

As part of their environmentally oriented philosophy, they reused and repurposed everything they could, after some in-depth cleaning and refinishing.

For instance, they pulled everything out of the store and then completely refinished the original red oak flooring and wooden entry doors. They redid storage areas in back and “upstairs,” creating an upper level office. They sterilized and resurfaced existing shelving, and added some new equipment.

And that was just the beginning. In the past week or so, they’ve been putting new products on the revamped shelves, getting ready for the big reveal Friday.

The partners

Andre and Marcela Ponce moved to Cambria in 2014, three years after getting married at Robin’s restaurant, less than two blocks away from the market. For many years, the couple had explored the Central Coast, searching for simplicity and a sense of community during their annual escapes from the South Bay area.

She is a marine biologist with more than 10 years of nonprofit work experience in environmental education and animal welfare. He holds an industrial engineering degree from Cal Poly Pomona, and is a former employee of The Boeing Company. Marcela Ponce said she plans to continue working as the ad assistant at The Cambrian.

Vergara relocated from Santa Barbara to the Central Coast in 1986 to study business and nutrition at Cal Poly, and is a co-founder of Jamba Juice. His partner Tafoya relocated from Wyoming in 2010 after falling in love with the natural beauty, active lifestyle and enlightened culture of this area. She also owns a massage therapy studio in San Luis Obispo, where she uses alternative approaches to traditional physical therapy.

History

According to Snow and reports from the Cambria Historical Society archives, her grandparents Joaquin “Jack” and Agnes Soto moved their prospering Cambria meat and grocery business from Bridge Street (where the Pacific Telephone systems-center building is now) to the Main Street site that had previously housed a bakery, saloon and general merchandise store separately.

Snow said it’s true that one day William Randolph Hearst stopped at Soto’s and bought everything in the store. “Grandpa had to close the store because it was empty,” until he could restock with new supplies.

In the late 1930s, the Sotos built a new store on the same site, but during the construction, the market continued to operate out of a space where Randall’s Drug Store had been.

It was a Soto family business through the generations until 1991, when it was sold to Norman and Penelope Goodin, whose family trust still owns the property. Subsequent business owners made changes in the past nearly quarter-century, but each of them kept the history.

That’s also the intention of the new entrepreneurs, who say they want to honor the store’s past and bring the landmark “back to its thriving years,” when the Soto family, Wilfred Lyons and others made it such a special, community-hub kind of place.

As Marcela Ponce said, the timing is wonderful for the new venture at the historic site.

“This year is Cambria’s sesquicentennial, or 150th anniversary. And next year is the 100th anniversary of the Soto family having a market in Cambria. We plan to celebrate like there’s no tomorrow,” and they want North Coast residents and visitors to join them in the festivities.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 11:16 AM with the headline "Soto’s Market reopening with emphasis on organic, healthy foods."