Shopping center coming to Colusa
The Colusa City Council voted unanimously last week to move forward with the initial plans to develop a mid-size shopping center along a busy stretch of State Route 20.
The Colusa Town Center Project, which will be located on six acres of land at 1601 State Route 20 in Colusa, is slated to include multiple retail businesses including an anchor grocery or drug store, a gas station with a car
nectarines, plums, pluots, corn, an assortment of watermelon - seeded, seedless and sweet gem, their most popular variety, cantaloupes, honeydews, Crenshaw melons, zucchini, red and green tomatoes and a variety of peppers.
The Charter family has been picking the seasonal favorites for over 30 years from the many fields that line State Route 20 just west of Williams and have sold their freshly picked assortment at the popular summer destination for just as long.
While business is thriving, this year operations have been a bit different from the norm due to the guidelines put in place because of the pandemic.
“The safety and health of our employees and our customers have always been our number one priority, aside from providing great, fresh produce and amazing customer service,” said Charter.
Charter said they have been strictly implementing the recommended
COVID-19 health and safety guidelines, requiring that masks be worn by customers and employees at all times and regularly sanitizing shopping baskets and other high touch surfaces.
Bill Charter, Jodi’s dad, started the business in 1983 when he began selling corn and tomatoes out of the back of his pickup truck on the side of the road.
When interest grew, Charter said her family saw the need for fresher produce within the community so they decided to build a stand, a small structure with no air conditioning or windows.
“We would just lift up a wood flap and open for business,” said Charter.
The stand closed briefly in the early 2000s for a remodel and additions were added onto the original structure of the fruit stand to make it into the functional shop standing today.
During its many summers of operation, the stand has remained a family-run business and Bill Charter still maintains the fields year round and harvests the crops.
“Thank you to all of the customers who have stopped by this season,” said Charter.
“We appreciate everyone’s continued support and look forward to serving everyone for years to come!”
According to Charter, the stand is expected to remain open until the end of October.
The Charter Family
Fruit Stand is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. For more information, contact the fruit stand at 473-5483.