“It took us too long, but it was well worth the wait,” Gelson’s CEO Rob McDougall said last month at the ribbon cutting for the gourmet grocer’s new Manhattan Beach store. Local residents Mark Harrigian and Jim Dillavou of Paragon Commercial Group first approached the city council about bringing Gelson’s to the former Champion Chevrolet site five years ago.
Among the new store’s features are wine and craft beer bars, a tapas bar, and a sushi/raw bar, a Wolfgang Puck “build your own pizza” station, a charcuterie station, a cheesemonger, a fruit and vegetable chop station, cold-pressed juices and smoothies designed by dietician Jessica Siegel, a Viktor Benês Bakery, and “Sip ‘n’ Shop” service in which customers can have drinks at the bar and have their shopping done for them.
McDougall signaled Gelson’s desire to serve the community by presenting $2,000 donations to the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation, Golden Heart Ranch, Grades of Green, Growing Great, Manhattan Beach Rotary Club, The Neptunian Woman’s Club and the Oceanographic Teaching Stations (Roundhouse Aquarium).
Photos by JP Cordero and Kevin Cody
