After more than 100 years in the Santa Ynez Valley, a local family-run grocery store will be changing hands.
Rodney Nielsen, president of Nielsen’s Market, says they are hoping escrow on the store in Solvang closes July 1. The new name would then be Valley Fresh Market.
Nielsen says his family has owned the market since 1911, located first on Copenhagen Drive and Alisal Road before moving to its current spot at 608 Alamo Pintado Road.
Nielsen says the family has been entertaining the idea of selling the business for the last few years. When approached last July by a local couple who expressed interest in buying it, he says the family kicked the idea around for a while before deciding it was a good offer and time to get out of the grocery business.
Nielsen says they were lucky to be located in the Santa Ynez Valley and “fortunate to have great employees and local customers for all these years.”
As for what’s next, he says his family still owns the building in the shopping center, so he will continue handling the property management side but adds he has not had much time to think about what else he will do.
Nielsen says they appreciate the Santa Ynez Valley and all the support over the last 108 years. “We couldn’t have done it without them,” he said.
