Finding familiar faces is as easy as pie at Ikeda's

The aisles are crowded and narrow and the shelves stacked high with everything from fresh produce and specialty food products to fine vintage wines.The atmosphere of the market is comfy, hometown and casual. Customers have to turn sideways to pass as they brush by each other with their baskets in hand in the tight confines of the aisles, but it's all part of the allure of Ikeda's Market. The smell of home-baked pies and fresh coffee fill the air in the store that has become a fixture in Auburn and one of the not-so-best-kept secrets of the foothills.Ikeda's Market is run by co-owners and brothers Glen and Steve Ikeda, who are second-generation proprietors. The business was established in the 1950s as a simple fruit stand on old Highway 40, which passed through Auburn. "It started as a fruit stand that you could prop the doors up to get into in front of the old Highway 40. Later, when Interstate 80 was built, the fruit stand was rebuilt where it sits today in 1970," Glen Ikeda said. The boys' father, Sam, was a partner with "Mr. Gibson" when the old fruit stand was on Highway 40. Sam Ikeda then took over ownership when the market was rebuilt, adding a few more specialties and the restaurant in 1970. "In the beginning it was a straight fruit stand, fresh oranges, fruit, olives and hot dogs," Ikeda said. "When my dad became a partner in the '60s he started infusing some new items like hamburgers and gourmet foods, dried nuts and fruits." Glen, 46 and Steve, 43 are both Placer High School grads as were their parents. They are third-generation Placer County residents. After graduating from college with degrees finance, the brothers took over the helm at Ikeda's in 1987 and they have held true to the philosophy that their father had taught them. "The No. 1 thing was always the highest quality, whatever he sold, the freshest local produce, the best quality hamburger meat, the highest quality nuts and dried fruits, so what we did was take my father's great reputation and expanded it into other products in the gourmet realm," Ikeda said. "We started doing gourmet coffee and foods, prime grade meats, whole cut fresh fish, cheeses and salami, and fine wines. Almost all of our produce is organic. We really have moved into a niche of high quality, fresh, organic products." The Ikedas also maintain 35 acres of growing grounds where they grow many of the items sold in the market. Apples, peaches, plums, nectarines, mandarins and berries are grown locally each year by the Ikeda family on the acreage.Ikeda's bakes 19 varieties of homemade pies and sells more than 120,000 pies a year, many of which have become traditional treats for many local families during the holidays. "The bakery is about 200 square feet and two days before Thanksgiving the ovens are on 24 hours a day, we bake 3,500 pies that are sold by Thanksgiving, during Thanksgiving week we sell close to 5,000 pies," Ikeda said. "Christmas is more spread out, but for the Christmas week we sell about 5,00 pies also." The restaurant and market have quite a following and locals know that Friday and Sunday evenings are not the best times to go to Ikeda's, with travelers to and from Lake Tahoe making the former fruit stand a mandatory stop. Sam Ikeda is retired from the business, but Glen and Steve's mother Sally still work with the boys. Each brother has his own area of expertise and shares the daily business duties of running the store in Auburn. The Ikeda's also opened a similar fruit stand and market off I-80 and Mace Boulevard in Davis several years ago. Glen and Steve both married, and each now has two children. They would love to see their own children enter into the business, as they did."We love it, we live it, and we hope that our children will want to take it over, but we don't know yet," Ikeda said. "It would be great to pass it on to the third generation."