The storied history of Old Town Market on East Clark is entering a new phase.  With an opening scheduled later this month, Nabil Fadel and his partner Ibrahim Abboud have remodeled the seventy-seven-year-old building that will soon offer essential groceries and a delicatessen.  Nabil Fadel says the market will be” like California Fresh but on a smaller scale.” 
The deli, which will be ready by mid-2025, will offer an American and Mediterranean selection of burgers, sandwiches, salads and soups.  
          The historic 7000 square foot building has been remodeled with new flooring, ceilings, shelving and refrigeration.  Nabil Fadel says the exterior, with outside lighting, will match surrounding buildings in Old Town Orcutt.  
“I know Old Town Market has been kind of a liquor store. The new atmosphere will be totally different,” he explains. “In addition to the deli, we will have a BBQ pit in the parking lot and will offer BBQ sandwiches twice a week.”   
          For much of its life, the property was owned by the Scolari family founded by Joe Scolari in 1947. He owned a 60-acre ranch in Los Alamos. Joe and his son Joie, who attend Santa Maria High School at the time, borrowed money and began building a gas station at the corner of Gray and Clark.  After finances ran low, the building evolved into an 800-square-foot store which opened May 19, 1947.  Thanks to local Orcutt support and the growth of Vandenberg Air Force Base, a second Scolari’s store opened in San Luis Obispo.  By the 1970’s, there were a dozen Scolari’s grocery stores dotting the Central Coast.  Among the growing chain were the K-Mart Food Store on Santa Maria Way and another market on North Broadway.  
          The Scolari’s chain was sold to Lucky’s stores in 1979.  However, the Orcutt store, deemed too small to be operated by the large chain, was sold back to the Scolari family.  It reopened under the name of J. J’s and changed hands several times in the 1980s and 1990s. 
Following the Lucky’s acquisition, the Scolari family opened stores in the California Central Valley and in the Reno, Nevada, area. Currently the independently owned supermarket chain operates two stores in Northern Nevada.  
          Mark Steller leased the property in 2004 and operated the market until 2020 when it was sold to Helios Daysprings who wanted to operate a cannabis dispensary.  When Santa Barbara County denied the dispensary application, Fadel and Abboud took ownership.   Steve Southwick reporting