Pacific Groves Cleaners closes after almost a century
PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (KION-TV) - Inflation and the pandemic strike again. A part of history is now gone in Pacific Grove after serving the community for nearly 100 years
Since 1926, Pacific Grove Cleaners served the people of the peninsula. Now that it's closing, some in the community are upset about the notice.
"I've been here from day one, and it's more than a business. I feel like I've. I've lost a friend. It was such a luxury to have a place to go that I trusted." says Jill Kleiss, a customer of the dry cleaning business for 20 years.
But this business was more than just a place to get clean clothes to owner Randy Uchida. He is the grandson of the original owner. He feels like he is letting his grandfather down.
"It's almost like a death in the family, you know, where it's really meaning to me personally," said Uchida.
A part of history is engraved in this business. Uchida says about 90 years ago, tragedy struck his family.
"It wasn't so good in the early forties when they had to go to the internment camps. And so they had to leave. There was a period when the family couldn't even own property," Uchida said.
But after a generous exchange, Randy's grandfather got the business back.
"A friend of the family had it under his name and eventually sold it to my family for a dollar. When Japanese were able to own property here," said Uchida.
Uchida says he will always be grateful for the amount of support from the community.
"All generations of that family were givers to this community, real community-minded people. It's sad to see them go," said Jenny MacMurdo with the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce.
"The customers that have been coming here, literally generations, some of them. And so, you know, there was a lot of emotion involved," said Uchida.
"his prices were the best. I wish we did more to help our businesses locally here in town," said Kleiss.
The future of this place is still up in the air, but Uchida says he will be selling the property soon.
