Nader Javid noticed he was always leaving town to buy his produce, usually to farmers markets. Since the business and property owner is always so busy – he recently sold the local Speedee Lube back to the corporate office but owns the nearby properties – he couldn’t always make it to Hollister’s farmers market on Wednesdays.
That’s how Javid described his inspiration to open Farm Fresh Produce – a spinoff of two like-named businesses on the Central Coast owned by the supplier providing a bulk of the Hollister store’s supplies. Javid credited that direct distribution network – along with local suppliers selling him an array of goods – for his ability to sell products so cheaply in comparison with larger grocery stores.
He recently opened the new business at the intersection of Airline Highway and Sunnyslope Road – drivers can’t miss the sign at the intersection showcasing produce deals – between the Speedee Lube and Rite Aid properties he owns.
“We’re going to make this corner alive,” Javid said.
With a prominent location, affordable prices and a neighboring national store in Rite Aid that is going through a major remodeling and is bound to create reciprocal traffic, one of the last key steps was hiring a manager. Javid found his man in Jesus Beltran, who came with 15 years of grocery experience at a San Jose store, with nine of those years in produce.
“I know my produce very well,” Beltran said.
It is the bounty of produce that jumps off the shelves in the store, while Javid has the business about 65 percent stocked while expecting to add bread, eggs, milk and ice cream, he said.
“Every day we add on,” he said.
