Special 30th Anniversary Issue

Thirty years ago seems like forever ago. Clint Eastwood was mayor of Carmel in 1988 (Sonny Bono was elected mayor of Palm Springs, too), Congressman Jimmy Panetta was only 19 years old…

30 years in the history of a local, independently owned business is no mere blink of an eye…

If you’re drinking local wine in Monterey County, it’s only a matter of time until you run into grapes from the Santa Lucia Highlands. These g…

Once there were five Chinese teenagers from the same small village who were sponsored to come to America to learn the grocery business. They s…

In the early 1970s, accountants Doug Hayashi and Warren Wayland had worked together at a local accounting firm for about three years. But when…

The Sardine Factory celebrated its 50th birthday on Oct. 2.

The Santa Lucia mountain range, formed over millions of years by the movement of the San Andreas Fault, helps funnel coastal fog across the Sa…

Restaurants come and go as trends ebb and flow here on the Central Coast. But for more than 60 years, Ichi-Riki has been firmly anchored in Se…

A lot has changed since a bar first opened on the corner of Pearl and Houston streets, next to the historic Robert Louis Stevenson House in do…

Since Rio Grill’s founding in 1983, a lot has stayed the same. Their wood-burning grill and the locally sourced produce continue to be the mai…

To say Charlie Higuera loves being a butcher is an understatement. At 85, he still works four days a week at Grove Market, the downtown Pacifi…

Pete Scudder was 25 years old in 1982 when he and his wife, Karen, bought their first house in Prunedale. They had just had their first daught…

Duke Quinones, owner of Vapor Sudden Service Cleaners in Monterey, has been in the laundering business his whole life. He bought the business …

Sometimes pizza is more than just pizza. Hot cheese plus tomato sauce and crispy dough tempts almost everyone; it brings families and friends …

In 1982, Peter Blackstock bought the Leslie Motors car dealership (which had opened in 1965) and changed its name to Victory Toyota. Victory w…

Legendary performer and dog lover Doris Day had one non-negotiable condition when she purchased the Cypress Inn more than 30 years ago with bu…

Monterey mainstay Red’s Donuts must be doing something right. After nearly 70 years of hand-cutting donuts, business in the last five years ha…

When a client walks into the March Hare salon in Carmel, they’re met with a clean, boutique-like environment and shelves stocked with natural …

There’s a myth about El Charrito, the joint on Market Street in Salinas where the line for juicy chile verde burrito or a chicken bowl loaded …

Perhaps Vince Poma’s business philosophy could be summed up in one phrase: “If you don’t have it, you can’t sell it.”

Carmel Realty Company specializes in high-end, boutique, luxury properties in Carmel, Carmel Valley, Big Sur and Pebble Beach. Their average t…

Fermin Sanchez sits on “The Bench,” a wooden seat just outside one of the entrances to Bruno’s Market & Deli in Carmel. Every few minutes …

Jewelry has come a long way since John Bonifas began working in the industry in the ’60s.

In the pantheon of long-lived businesses in Monterey County – and not only for the purposes of this issue in which we’re highlighting business…

When Andy Matsui came to Northern California from Japan in 1961, as part of a one-year training program with the Farm Bureau, he was struck no…

Every once in a while, Mother Nature turns on Nepenthe. Fires have forced the restaurant to close on several occasions. And the mudslide that …

Hayward Lumber is about to celebrate 100 years in Monterey County – no small feat, considering the company has survived the Great Depression, …

Kelly Sorensen’s original intent for starting On The Beach Surf Shop in 1986 might very well be what has kept him in business for over 30 years.

In 1930, after immigrating from Italy to the U.S., Louise and Victor Molinari moved from San Francisco to Salinas, and Louise got work cleanin…

The property owned by Tanimura & Antle in Spreckels is so vast that if you don’t know where you’re going, it’s easy to get lost. But what …

There are some things in life that just appeal to everyone: eating pizza, falling in love, even something as simple as bowling. Well, not ever…

In an era filled with big box stores that have low prices but often abysmal customer service, M&S is a throwback to a time where customers…