The new La Morenita market will re-open its doors in December following a year of reconstruction. Photo by Ryan Lely.
The handsome building that’s been going up next to the new Teen Center on Highway 12 just south of Mountain Avenue will house a branch of the popular Springs store La Morenita. The new market will re-open its doors in December, following a year of reconstruction. Owners Alfonso González and Everardo Rubio closed their store in August 2007 after serving their clientele of Latinos and other Sonomans for more than 10 years. The business was formerly Ignacio’s Videos.
“The old building was falling down around us,” said González. “We simply couldn’t stay open under those conditions.”
The new two-story facility will have 3,400 square feet, four times than the original structure. It will include four register lines, two entrances, an elevator and two bathrooms. Its parking lot will accommodate eight cars.
La Morenita II will offer a full-service butcher shop, a department with products from Mexico and services for check cashing and sending money.
General contractor Sergio Casanovas told the press, “The new facility has been designed with the customer’s convenience in mind. The owners decided on expanded size and two stories to provide a comfortable place for the clients while they do their shopping.”
González and Rubio are considering having a contest to choose a muralist to paint their exterior wall. “We still haven’t totally decided on this,” said González, “but we’ve been thinking about the possibility of putting something on the store which would represent the community. Who better than a local artist to give expression to this through painting?”
As to the question of what La Morenita II will offer its clientele, González replied, “Good service and quality products.”
González hails from Mixtlan in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, where he worked in a butcher store. He has lived in Vallejo for the last 17 years. When he came to the United States he spent five years in swimming pool construction. Then he became partners with his brother-in-law Rubio, who had opened a mini-market in Napa under the “Morenita” name. They purchased the building in Fetters Hot Springs that housed Ignacio’s Video and transformed it into La Morenita II. The former butcher store employee now owns two stores in the Sonoma Valley.
La Morenita II, 17400 Hwy. 12, Fetters Hot Springs; 707.935.7450. Hours: 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.
