New Tenants to Reopen La Gloria : Oxnard: A Whittier family is taking over the eatery and market. The previous operator was ousted over unpaid rent.

A new tenant has been lined up to take over the operation of La Gloria Market in downtown Oxnard, after owners of the popular Mexican eatery were locked out of the building for failing to pay rent.

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies last week locked the doors of the red brick building on Oxnard Boulevard, after owners of the building won a court order to remove their tenants because they owe more than $20,000 in back rent.

S. Blake Wade, the attorney for building owners Joseph and Frances Kucia, said Wednesday that owners of the combination restaurant and market have been plagued by financial problems for more than a year.

“My clients are sad to see this happen,” Wade said. “I just think it was bad management.”

Store owner Fernando Osuna filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, Wade said, just a day after a state court granted an order terminating Osuna’s lease for failure to pay rent. A bankruptcy court last week allowed the Kucias to lock out Osuna and his employees.

“The writing was on the wall,” said the 69-year-old Joseph Kucia, a retiree who relies on the rental income from the Oxnard Boulevard building to make ends meet. “The longer I delayed, the more it was going to cost me.”

Osuna could not be reached for comment.

Workers were busy on Wednesday cleaning up and renovating the market. Much of the food was spoiled, Kucia said, and any that could be salvaged was given away to a local homeless shelter.

Kucia said he has an agreement with a Whittier family to reopen La Gloria by the end of the month.

Marcelo and Frank Martinez, along with relatives Carlos and Rosa Alcala, plan to reopen all sections of the market and restaurant, which include a bakery that makes fresh tortillas and a deli that offers fresh chicken, beef and pork.

“I just hope everyone accepts us,” said Marcelo Martinez, who runs a food service business that supplied La Gloria with meat and other foods. “We’re going in with good intentions to make things happen and create jobs.”

La Gloria Market opened near the Oxnard Transportation Center in 1986 and quickly became a hit, filling almost every need for shoppers.

Customers could make travel arrangements, browse for jewelry and mail letters at the same place they purchased pinto beans, sugar cane and fresh tortilla dough.

Multicolored pinatas hung from the ceiling, and the walls were filled with images of revolutionary Francisco (Pancho) Villa and Mexico’s patron saint, La Virgen de Guadalupe.

But even Marcelo Martinez said he could see that the market was having money problems. He said that the owners owed him thousands of dollars and that many suppliers refused to do business with La Gloria.

Earlier this year, immigration officials hit the market with the biggest fine ever imposed on a Ventura County business for employing undocumented immigrants. The $60,200 fine was levied against La Gloria after a yearlong investigation into the market’s hiring practices and a subsequent raid that resulted in the arrest and deportation of the store manager and five other workers.

Martinez said he wants to build on the success that La Gloria has achieved over the years.

“I see La Gloria and how people enjoy going there, and I want to continue that,” he said. “I’d like to turn it into a landmark.”