Jensens holds grand opening event

By Analise Nelson

On December 9, Jensen’s replaced Fresh & Easy as the grocery store nearest to PLNU’s campus. According to Jensen’s owner, Adam Zack, the grand opening event had over 1,000 people attend between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Zack said that there was a raffle prize drawing, over 20 vendors giving food samples, hot-priced specials and they barbequed their famous burgundy pepper tri tip to make them into sandwiches. Trevor Hoffman, a retired Padres all-star pitcher, was there as well Zack said.

“We are family owned and operated, and as such are one of the only multi-unit specialty grocers in Southern California that are still family controlled,” Zack said. “We work hard to have a superior mix of traditional grocery items and specialty foods. Our profits at all of our stores are funneled back into our communities and not sent to out of state headquarters or corporates shareholders. We seek out high quality perishables, produce, meat, seafood and deli, that differentiate us from chain stores.”

Zack said that they donate heavily to the communities that they serve.

“Our goal is to be an indispensable part of the community that we serve and support our neighbors that make us their store of choice,” said Zack.

Jensen’s employee and PLNU student, David Garman, said that the store is special because it has family values. They treat every employee and customer like family. He had also worked the grand opening and said that it was very busy.

“Everyone from the neighborhood seemed to be here and everyday when I work I here people say how they really needed a grocery store and how they are so glad that we are here,” Garman said.

Garman said that he thinks Jensen’s will do well in Point Loma, because of the nearby college community, high school and families that live in the Point Loma area. The selection is large from organic to normal commodities, along with, meat, deli and sushi said Garman.

“Even though people think they might be expensive because of the organic [items] they have, they have normal items too, so they legit have everything at the same price or cheaper than Target or Ralph’s,” said Garman.

PLNU student, Nikki Newell, said that the store feels different from your average grocery store. She said that everything was organized and easy to find the healthy items that she was looking for. Newell thinks that Fresh & Easy did not have as many options as Jensen’s.

“I am pleased that we have that in place of Fresh & Easy,” Newell said. “ It was worth the wait.”

It’s super convenient and close to the school and even though Newell lives off campus, she said she would rather go to Jensen’s than somewhere else.

“It was so delicious and easy to find good quality food of all types,” Newell said. “For lunch I can come there and get some fresh soup or some sushi.”

Jensen’s is working to make improvements already by adding a juice bar, daily deli specials, and an improved salad bar in the upcoming months. Zack said that they plan on doing weekend barbeques and are in the process of revamping their deli sandwich menu as well.

“We are fine tuning our product selection and pricing to be as competitive as we possibly can,” Zach said.

According to Zach they saw the need for a local, neighborhood grocery store.

“We were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to acquire the lease and build the store that we felt would best fit Point Loma,” Zach said. “We still have a long way to go to get things how we envision, but are making progress every single day.”