Sandy’s Market, mainstay in Upland, burns down
Early Wednesday morning, Upland residents could see the flames and smell the smoke.
Some drove by to investigate, and when they arrived at Grove Avenue and Bowen Street, they saw a familiar, mom and pop grocery store engulfed in flames.
Sandy’s Market, at 85 Grove Ave., was deemed a total loss by the San Bernardino County Fire Department. The front and rear walls had collapsed during a 45-minute battle by firefighters to extinguish the flames shooting out of the roof and front of the old building, said Eric Sherwin, public information officer with the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District.
No one was injured, Sherwin said. The person living in the apartment above the store was able to get out unscathed, he said. The cause of the fire was unknown as of Thursday and remained under investigation by the San Bernardino County Office of the Fire Marshal.
Many in the nearby Upland and Ontario communities were saddened by the loss of an iconic store that had existed for decades. The loss brought back childhood memories of shopping
at the neighborhood, independently owned market.
“Use(d) to buy my garbage pail kids cards from there,” posted James Allie on the store’s Facebook page.
Rosita Granados drove by the next day and took pictures of what’s left of the building Wednesday afternoon. She lives one block away from “La Marketita Sandy’s,” as she called it in her lengthy post. “This little market was always my go-to when I didn’t want to go to a big grocery market.”
Some posted that the market was helpful in stocking supplies and staying open during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
“This makes me sad. It’s been there our whole life,” posted Sandi Miranda Fonseca, who lives in Fontana.
Gil Hernandez, 66, who lives in the Chaffey Village area of Ontario, often shopped at Sandy’s Market.
“It was a shock to us,” he said Friday.
Hernandez, who retired from the meat sales business, said he’d buy meats from the store’s butcher. “They had excellent carne asada,” he said. “I would keep going back to buy my meat there.”
Also he enjoyed buying snacks and things for his grandchildren and nephews.
He said the store had recently turned over, and he knew the previous owners well. “But the new owners were very nice,” he said.
The owners could not be reached for comment. There was no word Friday whether they plan to rebuild or relocate. The Yellow Pages online entry indicates
Sandy’s Market had been in business 58 years.
“Not quite a historical building, but generations of people have memories
of that market,” Sherwin said. He said the Fire Protection District recommended that the building be torn down due to the unstable walls.