Beach's Market retains popularity within film industry

DOWNEY - Due to its recent appearance in a new Trident gum commercial, Beach's Market has once again become a popular venue for filming within the Downey community.Located at 7900 Imperial Hwy, the market has been the site for many productions over the years, including "Christmas with the Kranks" and the upcoming Adam Sandler movie, "Born to be a Star." The market has also appeared previously in a Mountain Dew commercial and filming for a Dunkin Donuts commercial took place on July 9. Beach's staff believes that the market, built in 1967, may be experiencing increased popularity as a filming site because of its 70's aura. Ron Beach, the store manager, comments, "Our store is popular because of its retro look and the fact that we are easy to work with." Beach also explains that Beach's Market is unique because it is not a typical high volume store that would be prohibitively expensive to close for a day of filming. Beach's employee Lizette Izaquirre believes that there are other reasons for the store's popularity, stating, "The large parking lot allows large groups to come film and move around easily." Beach elaborated when he comments, "The film 'Christmas with the Kranks,' which was filmed for the most part in the Downey Studios, called for a relatively close location to the filming site. I feel that our market appeared to be the logical location under the circumstances." Although the market's close proximity to Downey Studios and other L.A. filming locations makes it popular, it falls within the "30-mile zone", which marks a range of land in which staff and labor is relatively inexpensive. "In filming everything comes down to money and time," said Carson Turner, a Southern California scout manager and 2007 manager of the year. "The Beach's Market, which falls within the 30-mile zone, has been able to accommodate our needs and is not the typical corporation that requires excessive paper work in order to film at." As Turner puts it, Beach's Market creates a "film friendly" environment where roughly 60-70 crewmembers can go out for a day and film without issue. Turner explains that the Beach's Market employees help the film crew rearrange the store to their satisfaction without any complaints. Having used the venue numerous times in the past, he plans to continue using the site because of its prime location and courteous staff. When asked about how the ongoing media attention has affected the store, Beach explains, "The Beach's Market's continuous success can be attributed to the name recognition and the community's interest in seeing the location where a movie or commercial was filmed." Beach points out that the current Trident commercial, which depicts a rocket ship launch outside the store, features the store's name in the clip. The new Trident commercial can be viewed on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUQSJIRJEVs.

********** Published: July 17, 2009 - Volume 8 - Issue 13