Acords Market Closing in Style With a ‘Wake’

Longtime customers and employees will have a “wake” in Acords Market’s parking lot Friday, the store’s last day of business. After the market closes at noon, employees will serve free tacos, cake and ice cream to customers.

“It’s just a goodbye to Acords,” said Jan Koelle, a store manager who plans to haul in a coffin for the occasion. “It’s a funeral. . . . It’ll be a chance for everybody to say goodbye to everybody.”

Acords, a popular independent market that has operated downtown since the 1930s, will be replaced by a Wild Oats Community Market, part of a chain based in Boulder, Colo. Word of that switch set off a furor in the city last fall.

City Council members tried to intervene but discovered that they could do nothing because the property owner had decided not to renew Acords’ lease agreement. Wild Oats officials have said they will work hard to ensure that their store serves the community well.

Koelle said the mood at Acords is sad, even though many employees have other jobs lined up.

Produce manager Dean Morgan, who has worked at the store for 13 years, said he would like to stay with Acords should it reopen elsewhere. There is no chance for the market to do so in Laguna Beach, however, because rents are so high. “Laguna Beach is a done deal,” he said.