For nearly a decade, Genaro Salcedo worked seven days a week running his family business El Compadre, a neighborhood market in Sun Valley that sold fresh cuts of meat, pan dulce and other Mexican American staples, including tamales and menudo on weekends.
Salcedo even did something unheard of these days – he extended credit to customers who needed groceries but were short on cash. “I believe you have to help people whenever you can,” he said. “They don’t always pay; sometimes we never see them again. But others appreciate the help.”
He worked long days, typically arriving at the store before dawn to bake the bread and prepare the market for customers, but Salcedo enjoyed his work and the community he served. Some people jokingly asked, “Do you live here? You’re always here!” His reply: “I like what I do.”
But his life was turned upside down in the early morning hours of July 12, when he drove into the parking lot of the Valle Del Sol strip mall on Sunland Boulevard to begin his usual workday and was shocked to discover his market on fire. As he ran up, he saw flames near the front door.
Genaro Salcedo
“All I know is how to work hard; it’s the only thing I’ve always known how to do,”
No firefighters had arrived on scene yet. His first instinct was to try to go in and put out the fire.
“But the fire was already too strong. Maybe if I had arrived a little bit earlier, I would have been able to save [the store].” As Salcedo rolled that intense scene back in his mind, his voice caught and he couldn’t mask his pain. His son, Gerardo Salcedo, called in the fire when he arrived right behind him, about 4:40 a.m.
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) reported that it took more than 100 firefighters approximately 30 minutes to put out the fire. El Compadre was completely destroyed, and the businesses on either side of the market – Mariscos Las Palmas and Chai Thung Thai restaurants – both suffered damage. LAFD officials said they are investigating the fire as possible arson.
Genaro Salcedo and his son said police officers showed them surveillance video they obtained from a nearby business that shows a man riding up to the market on a bicycle and then sticking a bottle through a mail slot. Flames erupted a few minutes later.
Both father and son have no idea who did it or why anyone would target their store. But what Genaro Salcedo does know is he’s left feeling bereft no longer going to his store every morning.
“All I know is how to work hard; it’s the only thing I’ve always known how to do,” he said.
A GoFundMe page has been launched to raise money to help the family stay afloat financially and to reopen the business in the future. By press time, they had collected just over $11,000.
An immigrant from Mexico, Genaro Salcedo worked at El Compadre for eight years before the previous owner gave him the opportunity to buy the business from him when he retired. From the beginning, family and friends have helped guide him, from the initial ownership paperwork to ensuring he had all the necessary business licences, permits and insurance to run it properly.
Before the fire, Genaro Salcedo was running the store alongside his sister, his son and his son’s girlfriend. He also had some part-time workers, who have moved on to find other jobs. “They explained that they needed to work, which I understand; they need to make a living,” he said.
Which is what Genaro Salcedo and his family are also trying to do. As his son and sister look for new jobs to sustain themselves, he has been working at his daughter’s business, preparing meat for her restaurant.
Meanwhile, the future of the store remains in limbo, said Gerardo Salcedo. The insurance company informed them “they’re going to be giving us a full payout” – but the dollar amount won’t cover all of the expected costs of fully restoring and reopening the market, he said.
“It won’t be enough [money] … but [my father] still wants to continue,” said Gerardo Salcedo. Unfortunately, he added, there won’t be an insurance payout until the investigation is complete.
For Gerardo Salcedo, who is 18, El Compadre has been like a second home his entire life.
“It was a space where I always felt relaxed and comfortable, and the [customers] were always really nice,” he said. That’s why he understands his dad’s wish to eventually relaunch the store.
“It was a really big part of our family,” he continued. “My father was always trying to figure out how to make stuff work, how to make the store better, how to [serve] the customers better.”
“It’s so heartbreaking to see [my dad] so devastated after he lost everything he’s ever worked for,” added his daughter Elena Salcedo. “That store was like another child to him; he put in countless hours of his life into making that dream happen. Before he bought it, he was working three jobs at a time, sometimes only getting a couple hours of sleep a day, so that he could build something for his kids’ future. And … all of [that got] taken from him in 30 minutes.”
Elena Salcedo believes the fire was “clearly … a targeted act.” She hopes the investigation will find the culprit and silence those who have been speculating – both online via social media and even in person, by asking her father directly – whether the fire was related to insurance fraud.
“If my dad would have been in the store [when the fire started], he would have done everything, to the point of risking his life, to prevent this from happening,” she stressed vehemently, noting that the loss is weighing heavily on her father and the rest of the family.
Picking up the pieces won’t be easy. On a very hot day, nearly a week after the fire, the foul stench of burned and rotting meat, produce and other items still permeated the air as a pained-looking Genaro Salcedo and his son walked through the charred, boarded-up remains of his store with fire insurance investigators. The ceiling is gone, and virtually everything inside is scorched and blackened. Both restaurants next door remain shuttered, but the rest of the stores in the strip mall appear open for business.
When customer Eric Arriaga drove up, planning to pick up some beef loin at El Compadre – which he said always sold the best in town – he was stunned. He hadn’t heard that the market had burned down the previous week.
“I’ve been a customer for about 20 years, since before [Genaro Salcedo] was the owner,” he said. “I feel so sorry about what happened, because he’s really a great guy. He’s a good person to everyone – young people, older people, women and men. He always treats everyone the same.”
Another regular customer said El Compadre was “super, super close to her heart,” especially because the owner was always kind enough to give her extra time to pay.
“There would be times when I could not afford to eat and I’d come here and [he] would let me get whatever I needed for the week and he would write my name down … so I could pay him whenever I had the money,” she said, describing the devastating fire as “really, really sad.”
“I came to get my beans … [the morning of the fire] and I saw that it [was gone].” She recalled seeing Genaro Salcedo, his wife and their family outside the market, looking extremely upset.
“The guy lost completely … everything – everything that [he] worked for burned,” she said. “I really hope the community can come together [for him] the way he’s always been here for us.”
What Genaro Salcedo wants most is answers – to know why this happened. But more than that, he wants to know when the insurance company will pay, what steps he’ll need to take and how much more he’ll need to rebuild and reopen his store, so he can keep providing for his family.
“I know I’ll be short on the money I’ll need to rebuild, but I know I can do it,” he said with determination in his voice. “I’ll find a way to do it – to keep working hard and moving forward.”
For the GoFundMe page, go to: www.gofundme.com/f/rebuilding-our-family-store-after-the-fire.