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Ferndale’s Valley Grocery closed its doors earlier this week, and a three-day notice posted on the front door threatens legal action if the store’s current operators fail to pay $27,832.03 in past-due rent, property tax and insurance payments by 5 p.m. today.

The legal notice, affixed to the front door with clear packing tape, is signed by Eureka attorney Randall Davis, “Attorney for Landlord.” It’s addressed to Ranjeet Singh, Rajinder Buttar Singh, Monty Walia, RRR&M Corp. “and any and all other persons in possession of the premises located at 339 Main Street, Ferdale, CA 95536.”

The sudden closure of Ferndale’s primary grocery store, should it last, will have major impacts on residents of the Victorian village. Built in 1872, this Main Street building has operated as a grocery store ever since, though it suffered major structural damage in the earthquake of 1906 and again in the magnitude-7.2 quake of 1992. (In 1906, the storefront collapsed onto the street, killing two cows. In 1992 it crumbled again, this time flattening a Chevrolet and a Volvo, whose owner had just stepped inside to buy cigarettes. Check out a photo of the smashed Volvo at the U.C. Berkeley Seismology Lab’s website.)

In addition to your standard supply of food provisions, beverages and snack items, Valley Grocery carried Ferndale souvenirs and operated a popular deli that sold pre-made items such as sandwiches, salads, burgers and Mexican food.

Voicemails left for Ranjeet Singh were not returned by the time this post was published. 

According to the Humboldt County Assessor’s Office, the current owner of the building is a corporation called Umar, Inc., which lists its mailing address as a P.O. box in Davis.

The phone number listed online for Valley Grocery has been disconnected.

The three-day notice on the front door, dated April 20, says the tenants owe $11,430.89 in rent from the past three months, plus $9,401.14 for a property tax bill and $7,000 for the annual property insurance invoice. Failure to pay the total amount of nearly $28,000 within three days will result in “legal proceedings,” the notice says. 

We tried to reach attorney Randall Davis, who works with the Eureka firm of Dun & Martinek, LLP, but we were informed that he’s out of the office.

A Ferndale resident tells the Outpost that the lights in Valley Grocery have been out since Tuesday, though a generator was running at the back of the store this afternoon.

Here’s a photo of the notice on the front door: