Banner day for Altadena’s Grocery Outlet as it emerges from wildfire-spurred closure

Six weeks after the Eaton Fire devastated Altadena, the town’s Grocery Outlet, a community hub even before disaster struck, is ready to reopen.

Owners Jose and Sandra Valenzuela, both 53, will welcome customers at 9 a.m. Wednesday, to the store at 2270 N. Lake Avenue, famous for its “Greetings from Altadena” postcard mural and, post-fire, a giant “Altadena Strong — We Will Rebuild!” banner beside it.

“We will make the best of it, like Altadenans always do,” said Sandra Valenzuela. “We’re a little frightened what the outcome of our business will be. A vast part of our community is gone. We’re going to do everything to stay afloat and remain in the community, to whatever normal is going to be.”

The couple hesitate to call the reopening a celebration, mindful of so much loss around them. Five of their 25 employees lost their homes. The store building itself escaped extensive damage, save for bubbled-up paint outside.

“It’s not about us,” Jose Valenzuela said. “It’s the community and the stories we can share.”

Since they opened their business in 2021, the Valenzuelas, members of the Altadena Rotary Club, have let nonprofits use their expansive parking lot for community events for free. Since the fire, they’ve allowed disaster-response groups including the American Red Cross, ShelterBox USA, the Los Angeles County Department of Health, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers free use of their parking lot to distribute aid.

A recent distribution event sponsored by the Rotary and St. Vincent de Paul handed out food and supplies to 2,300 families. Another resource fair put together by Altadena Strong on Monday featured Little Caesar’s Love Kitchen serving 250 pizzas and a lot-full of children’s activities for all. Early this month, the Valenzuelas also smoothed the way for Altadena churches to pick up two semi-trucks full of donated supplies from another Grocery Outlet in San Gabriel.

Keeping their parking lot open to aid groups while their own business remained shuttered after the fire is part of the Rotarian “service over self” ideal, the couple said.

“Reopening will be bittersweet for us, as we know that so many in Altadena have experienced tremendous loss,” Sandra Valenzuela said. “We know that there will be tears, hugs, and many tales to be told as the community recovers and rebuilds. We also know that our store is an anchor point for the community, so getting back to normal as quickly as possible is important for everyone. We feel fortunate, despite our own struggles, to be able to reopen — and we sincerely hope other Altadena businesses will be able to reopen soon. Overall, this is a bit like waking up from a recurring nightmare.”

While insurance will cover the loss of more than 30 tons of products, valued at about $850,000, the Valenzuelas said their worries about whether or not their community of customers will return is overshadowed by the customers who drop by in person or inquire online, anxious to have the grocery reopen.

Victoria Knapp, chair of the Altadena Town Council, said the Valenzuela’s store is one of only two groceries in town, is centrally-located with lots of parking and “the prices are helpful, especially now post-disaster.”

But most of all, it has always stood out as a community gathering place.

Every inch of the store has been cleaned inside to HEPA standards and all new stock has been brought in, with the help of Grocery Outlet’s corporate office, Jose Valenzuela said. It may take another week or two after reopening before all the shelves will be fully stocked, but it’s a start.

There was never a question of closing up shop and leaving.

“We can’t,” Sandra Valenzuela said. “That would feel like cowering. And Altadena is near and dear to our heart. We know the good, the bad and the ugly, and we miss every last bit of it.”

Married 30 years, with two children and three grandchildren, Sandra jokes that her husband promised her she wouldn’t work a lot when they opened the store.

“Well, I’ve never worked harder in my life, but I would do it again with him,” she said.

Longtime Altadena community activist René Amy, who lost his own home in the fire, has spent many days outside the store since Jan. 7, distributing supplies and dispensing his brand of Altadena optimism. Amy was the one who had the “We Will Rebuild!” banner made within a week after the fire.

“As to that huge banner, it took them less than a heartbeat to say ‘Yes,’” Amy said. “The bottom line is that Sandra and Jose are great, down-to-earth people, and I’m proud to have them as friends.”