History

Before the P.I. Market

Jorge "George" Tejada immigrated to the United States in 1926 and worked as an agricultural laborer in the fields of Stockton, California. After a year, his ambitions brought him to Los Angeles where he worked as a bell boy at various hotels. He met a fellow bell boy, Pio Makiling, who would serve at the hotels during the day and attend Law School at night. Pio Makiling would eventually become an important figure in the first years of the P.I. Market.

By 1936, Tejada felt that he should embark on a new journey and decided to venture into the business world. An ambitious man, he was always saving up money and soon, he saved enough capital to open up a market. Tejada invited Arsenio DeCasa and Ralph Cespon to go into business with him. After partnering up, the three men looked into three different locations: Brawley, Holtville, and Pismo Beach. After realizing that Brawley and Holtville cultivated a lot of discrimination towards the Filipino community, they felt that the market would be most successful in Pismo Beach. This proved to be a good decision as Pismo Beach provided a strong foundation for the Filipino community.

P.I. Market History

The first P.I. Market opened in Pismo Beach, California in 1936 on the corner of Cypress and Ocean View. Although it was small, "they found a place and loaded it with rice and canned goods and everything that Filipinos usually need. They don't sell vegetables because Filipinos plant their own, they plant them in the back yard, the side yard, and the front yard, any place they can grow" Milagros Tejada, wife of Jorge Tejada, recalled. Five years later, on January 25, 1941, the P.I. Market was incorporated after Filipinos were legally able to own land and businesses in California.

Being the head of a chain of four P.I. Markets spanning throughout California (other locations in Los Angeles, Salinas, and Montalvo), the store served as a hub for the Filipino-American community throughout the Five Cities as well as for Filipino travelers venturing between the Bay Area and Los Angeles. With much success, the owners decided to expand the market in 1951, adding much more room for storage and a larger butcher shop. 

Catering to the needs of the Filipino community, the P.I. market offered goods that American markets and grocery stores lacked. Not only did the market meet the material needs of the community, but it also met the community’s social needs as it served as a popular hangout spot fostering Filipino Americans. For seventeen years, the P.I. Market was the home to Phillip Aradanas, Pete Bual, and Cornelio Barbon as they lived in the back of the store in small bedrooms.

The store remained opened during WWII despite some of the partners enlisting in the Army. In 1972, the P.I. Market finally closed due to competition of the new style of grocery stores and supermarkets. The owners got together in 1989 and decided to sell the P.I. Market.  Today, a commemorative plaque of the P.I. Market stands on the corner of Cypress and Ocean View.

A look inside the P.I. Market fully stocked with groceries.

                                 Pedro Aradanas at the P.I. Market in Montalvo, 1950.              Philip Aradanas, butcher at the P.I. Market in Pismo.

                                                                                            August 1958.

                                                                                          Photo courtesy of Lucille Lor.