The Mercantile will offer the Limoneira Coffee Company offering the finest of Brazilian coffees grown exclusively for Limoneira. The coffeehouse will also offer entertainment, Allen noted.Another Mercantile component is Limoneira Fresh, “about 3,000 square feet of fresh fruits and vegetables, branded products from honey to beeswax and a fresh flower section,” among other items. “We’re really excited about this,” said Allen.Nasalroad noted that the car wash will be fully operational and that complex retail attractions will also double as museums of local and Limoneira history.Alex Flores, Director of the Santa Paula Union High School Agricultural Academy and Future Farmers of America programs offered another recipe for success.Flores was accompanied by several students who told of fundraising efforts of the program, described as “diverse with different components” that prepares students for careers in the ag industry.The comprehensive program is open to students on the 10th grade level and includes numerous projects.Naturally the Ag Academy has members who are also active in Future Farmers of America who swept the livestock awards during August’s Ventura County Fair.FFA members have also been active in fundraising for a state FFA Center, touring colleges and universities, successfully entering competitions and attending leadership conferences.“These kids do work hard and a lot that we do is outside of school…in school they have to keep their grades up,” said Flores. “Their love of agriculture will continue throughout their lives.”
Limoneira Mercantile, SPUHS Ag Academy, FFA highlighted at Good Morning Santa Paula
November 03, 2004
Santa Paula News
Limoneira Co. representatives highlighted its new Mercantile and activities of the Santa Paula Union High School Agricultural Academy and FAA were updated at the October Good Morning Santa Paula!
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesLimoneira Co. representatives highlighted its new Mercantile and activities of the Santa Paula Union High School Agricultural Academy and FAA were updated at the October Good Morning Santa Paula!Limoneira Co., founded in 1893, hosted the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event, held at Logsdon’s at the Santa Paula Airport.Scott Edwards of Limoneira Co. noted that the Mercantile team includes Bill Allen and Ryan Nasalroad, a “couple of homegrown folks…”Edwards is the general manager of the new enterprise that Limoneira has slated for a February opening.The Mercantile will have six retail businesses at the former site of a gas station complex. The Mercantile will include a Union 76 gas station – many of Limoneira’s founders also started the then Union Oil, the former owner of the 76 franchise – and car wash. Aside from a convenience store the complex will also include Bob’s Big Boy restaurant/drive thru, the Limoneira Coffee House and Limoneira Fresh, a daily farmers market offering fresh fruit, vegetables and specialty items.“We are the brain trust of the Mercantile,” just the latest enterprise that the citrus giant is tackling, noted Edwards.“How we did we come up with Mercantile? In the dictionary it means a gathering of merchants and that’s what Limoneira is doing, a gathering or six retail businesses,” said Edwards.The Mercantile will also “usher in the reentry of Bob’s Big Boy into California and be a relative gateway for folks coming into town. Limoneira is going to make it a lot prettier then it was before,” offering a must-stop complex at Hallock Drive and Highway 126, noted Edwards.The Mercantile will also employ about 100 people who will staff the new “one-stop shopping” complex, Edwards added.Limoneira Business Development Manager Bill Allen, a Santa Paula native, noted that Limoneira is happy to be part of the revitalization of the city.
