Business Merchants

Although initially a small city, San Pablo has had many merchants throughout its lifetime. Most of these merchants were on the main road in what was once considered the center of town; San Pablo Avenue. As San Pablo grew, the center of town shifted appropriately with it.

One of the highlights of San Pablo's history of growth and expansion was the planning, and completion by the El Portal Investment Company of its $10Million dollar retail shopping center. The El Portal firm was organized by the same developers of the El Cerrito Plaza Shopping Center. El Portal Shopping Center was built on the former site of El Portal Park, a 50-acre parcel of land owned by the San Pablo Housing Authority that contained units of temporary war housing. The city determined the old war housing units must be removed in order to complete the newly proposed San Pablo shopping center by 1961. The construction would be done in two phases; the first, costing approximately $5.5M would include a department store, grocery, bank, drug store and a string of other retail stores to be completed and opened by October 1960. The second would be a unit of retail stores costing approximately $5M to be completed in 1961. The developers estimated that the shopping center would gross around $10M in sales initially, and $20M per year when completed. This meant San Pablo would be gaining 25 times the total retail business being done at that time.

Many of San Pablo's merchants and businesses have come and gone. However, there are some businesses that still exist and in the same place as when they first opened.

This section is to spotlight those businesses that have achieved longevity.

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