Drive-through market gets new owners and a few changes

One day this past spring, Kevin Campbell pulled into L & M Dairy, a tiny drive-through convenience store off Costa Mesa’s fashionable East 17th Street, and read a bit of news on a Coca-Cola whiteboard, next to some refrigerators.

“This business is for sale,” it read.

Pat and Lila Patel, Indian immigrants commuting to the store from Corona every day, were looking to retire. They had owned L & M since 1989 and, by that point, were its only employees to keep things open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

They were tired.

“I don’t want to work anywhere,” Pat told the Daily Pilot in April. “Five miles away or anywhere.”

Campbell, looking to invest in a business, saw opportunity. The store at 1712 Santa Ana Ave. had a lot of potential, he thought, and a loyal following already.

“We ran through the books, crunched the numbers and made an offer,” Campbell said.

In June, Campbell and his wife, Mary, both of Costa Mesa, bought the store for their family.

After a brief closure for remodeling and replacing expired products, the business reopened July 2 under a new identity: Eastside Mini-Mart.

Its black-and-white logo features a vintage glass milk jug.

Campbell and Mary’s son, Rory, is a managing partner. Their daughter, Krista, does the marketing and social media. Their son-in-law, Colby Reedy, Krista’s husband, is also a managing partner.

“It’s fun to be in here,” Campbell said.

Krista’s efforts are making Eastside Mini-Mart one of a select few mini-marts anywhere that keeps a busy presence on Facebook and Instagram. On Yelp, it has received eight five-star reviews so far.

A recent Facebook post on the store’s page shows a Costa Mesa cop car pulling in.

“We love to service our city’s finest!” it states.

At its heart, Eastside Mini-Mart is still the drive-through convenience store — one of only two in Costa Mesa — that everyone remembers for its everyday wares, snacks, wine and beer.

Now, though, there’s a new twist. The store pitches itself as a cross between 7-Eleven and Whole Foods.

Like 7-Eleven, the store carries many national brands and, like L & M before it, Alta Dena products.

But, in the realm of Whole Foods, they’re upping their game by offering both higher quality and locally made products, including Purps, a Kelly Slater-endorsed energy drink made by a Newport Beach company; My Favorite Indulgence, a granola by a Costa Mesa company; Rusty’s Chips, founded in Costa Mesa but now based in Huntington Beach; and Shakti, an Irvine-based juice company.

Eastside Mini-Mart even has T-shirts and hats, and they’ve been popular. The first batch sold out.

For kids coming in, management brings out the “treasure box.” It’s full of free pens and other trinkets.

“It’s a fun little thing for when the kids come through,” Colby said.

Shoppers are also sure to spot Betsy, a porcelain cow rescued from a Balboa Island garage sale. She stands near the exit.

Eastside Mini-Mart management says they’re looking to rescue more cows too. Maybe one will find a nice new home on the roof.