As recently as this past spring, the La Habra Ranch Market was a bustling local market, full of people jamming tiny carts past each other in their eagerness to trade their hard-earned money for a cornucopia of fresh, beautiful fruits and veggies.
I posted about the market a little over a year ago, noting the fantastic prices, variety, and bounty to be had. (Check it out here.) Watermelons for $2/each! Raspberries 2 boxes for $1! Just amazing.
Some time in the last year though, the original Mexican owners cashed out and sold the market to a Korean family (indicative of SoCal socioeconomics on a macro scale). And the market hasn't been the same since.
I don't know if it's because the suppliers are now different, but I was so depressed to visit the market last week and see its transformation/degeneration firsthand.
I wasn't even sure it was open that day, there were so few cars in the parking lot. Inside it was dismal, eerily silent and so very empty. And let's not even get into the produce - such poor quality stock, all shriveled up and on the edge of molding. Not to mention, the shelves looked like they hadn't been stocked in a couple weeks.
It's been less than a year since the changeover but I am flabbergasted by how poor management - poor supply, poor set-up, poor pricing, poor customer service/experience can completely run a successful business into the ground, and so quickly.
All I can think is, how sad, and what a waste!