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Local Voices

Familiar Faces to Greet Customers As Vintage Grocers Celebrates March 5 Grand Opening

MALIBU – Shoppers visiting Vintage Grocers will find many familiar faces and local products when the store celebrates its Grand Opening on March 5, kicking off a week of special events and tastings to mark the launch of the independent new market created for the Malibu community and the surrounding area.

Several local residents, Malibu High School students and Pepperdine University students will be working alongside former HOWS Trancas Market and Cooke’s Family Market employees at Vintage Grocers. Located in the Trancas Country Market across from Zuma Beach, Vintage Grocers will also feature locally made products and locally grown produce.

“We are committed to this community, and we are so excited to have so many incredibly talented colleagues from Malibu and the surrounding area join our team,” said Eric Fuchser, Vintage Grocers market manager. “We are hiring the best in the business to ensure we provide the best possible service to our customers, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the hometown team we’re assembling to serve our neighbors.”

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Among the familiar faces will be Daryn Berman, Vintage Grocers sommelier and the manager of its Wine, Spirits and Craft Beers Department. Berman built and managed the Appelation’s Wine and Spirits Department in the former Cooke’s Family Market at Point Dume before it closed in 2011. His father owned Cooke’s Family Market and the former Trancas Market.

“I look forward to rekindling some old friendships and developing some new ones at Vintage Grocers,” said Berman. “It’s a privilege to be able to contribute my experience and knowledge in the wine and spirits category to an already wonderful team at Vintage Grocers.”

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Another familiar face will be Zacarias de la Cruz, who grew up in Malibu and worked at the original Trancas Market and at its successor, HOWS Trancas Market, for 12 years.

“Everyone in the community is talking about Vintage Grocers, and they are very excited about the opening of a new grocery store to serve Malibu and the surrounding area,” said de la Cruz. “Our community is unique, eclectic and always interesting.  Vintage Grocers seems like a perfect fit for it.”

Along with its hometown team, Vintage Grocers will offer customers a wide variety of hometown products, including scoops of Beachy Cream ice cream available at the front of the store and containers of the company’s ice cream from the freezers. Vintage Grocers’ Produce Department will feature One Gun Ranch fruits and vegetables grown in a nearby canyon. Its Grocery Department will offer Malibu Honey, which is produced from local bees in local hives; Malibu OLIVE Co. olive oil; spices from Zuma Organic products, and organic soaps and skincare and baby products from Soap the Earth. Malibu Family Wines will be among the more than 1,200 wines available in the Vintage Grocers’ extensive Wine, Spirits and Craft Beers Department.

“We can’t wait to share all these great local products with our customers,” said Fuchser. “They are going to be amazed at the quality of produce, honey, wine and other specialties that are being grown and produced in their hometown.”

The community is invited to join their friends and neighbors for the March 5 Grand Opening Celebration at Vintage Grocers. The festivities will start at 9 a.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The first 250 shoppers will receive a complimentary gift bag full of local products. Custom-made Malibu Gift Baskets will be awarded every hour to one lucky shopper. Shoppers will be treated to live demonstrations throughout the day, and other special events will be taking place throughout the first week to celebrate the opening.

Vintage Grocers will supply shoppers’ everyday grocery needs at affordable prices, as well as provide a full selection of organic, all-natural, international, Kosher, GMO-free and gluten-free food and products. It also will feature environmentally friendly packaging and products throughout the store.

At Vintage Grocers, shoppers will find exceptional offerings from the store’s kitchen ready for their table. Piping hot brick-oven pizza, freshly prepared sushi featuring the highest quality seafood, heart-warming homemade soups, an expansive range of deli selections, a garden-fresh salad bar, a fresh-squeezed juice bar, a hot food bar, gourmet sandwiches and many more delicious dishes are available for take-home meals or to enjoy at Vintage Grocer’s front porch dining room.

“From picking up something for tonight’s dinner to finding that special ingredient for your holiday meal, you can count on us to be your knowledgeable and friendly resource on food and drink,” said Fuchser. “Vintage Grocers will be a place where exceptional foods and relationships are deeply rooted.”





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