Business

WATSONVILLE—In November Uriel Mendoza of Watsonville will mark 21 years of being a bus driver for Santa Cruz METRO. When asked what he liked about his job, he plainly responded, “My job.”  His preferred bus route? “I like all of them,” he said. He said his customers are...

A little more than two years after the former Kmart store on Freedom Boulevard closed its doors, the space will soon have a new tenant.  Vallarta Supermarket, which has more than 50 locations throughout California—the most recent one in Salinas—will occupy half of the 100,000-square-foot...

A crew from Vacant Property Security installs one of several traffic blocks in the parking lot of the former Kmart on Freedom Boulevard. On Oct. 12, the Watsonville City Council started the process of declaring the abandoned property a public nuisance due to illegal...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville’s newest charter school now has a permanent home, and a long-vacant building on the Main Street corridor will soon have a new tenant. Watsonville Prep School, which opened in August with 180 kindergarteners, first- and second-grade students, plans to occupy the second floor of...

WATSONVILLE—It has been three decades since Gabino Torres and Anna Martinez opened a small Mexican seafood restaurant on Main Street, a business they launched as a way to pair their love of their native cuisine with a drive to support their family. La Perla del...

WATSONVILLE—A new coffee shop has opened on Aviation Way, rounding out the Watsonville Hangar business complex that has been growing steadily the past couple of years. Honeylux Coffee is a specialty coffeehouse offering its own signature blend of java, as well as espresso drinks, teas,...

WATSONVILLE—More than 100 people gathered in front of the newly rebuilt McDonald’s restaurant on Freedom Boulevard Tuesday for a grand reopening celebration. The business, located at 1598 Freedom Blvd., replaces the one originally built in 1974, which had remained at the same location until demolition...

Four Winds Growers, a fourth-generation, family-run business in Watsonville specializing in citrus trees, has seen major growth in sales since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Aaron Dillon, who runs the business with his siblings, says that the surge is likely due to people who...

El Pájaro Community Development Corporation (El Pájaro CDC) has entered into a partnership with Staff of Life, a natural foods market that recently opened its new store in the East Lake Shopping Center. El Pájaro CDC, which aims to support small business entrepreneurs by...

WATSONVILLE—Work continues on Laundry Day, the new Laundromat on the corner of Brennan Street and East Lake Avenue.  Situated in the former Union Bank (and Watsonville Federal Savings and Loan before that), the remodeling project, which has gone on for more than a year, is...