Glamis store is still thriving By SILVIO J. PANTA, Staff Writer
Monday, January 5, 2009 12:12 AM PST
PAUL NILSON PHOTO
Breanna Armstrong, 8, of San Bernardino holds a T-shirt at the Glamis Beach Store on Sunday, smiling at her father in hopes of him buying her a souvenir.
PAUL NILSON PHOTO
Several off-road vehicles sit outside of the store.
GLAMIS — The Glamis Beach Store has been around for more than a generation as it sits along Highway 78 near the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.
Offering a well-stocked selection of T-shirts, frozen food, camping gear and even automotive parts, the business owned by Eugene LeBlanc since 1979 continues to be something of a landmark to off-road enthusiasts.
But LeBlanc had little to say as he sat behind the counter watching a movie on DVD Sunday as customers entered his store. Much has been written about his business in the past, LeBlanc said.
Asked about his thoughts on the pending end of trash collection service at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, LeBlanc said to his knowledge the trash will continued to be removed.
“As far as I know the trash will be picked up,” was all he said.
Property manager Tim Gantz said the 30-year-old store had been built a year before it opened for business in 1980.
“We hold the record for the most Coors beer ever sold in one day,” Gantz said.
In the past, the store has been the site where injured dunes visitors were brought before they were taken — in some cases flown — to hospitals as far out as Phoenix.
But Gantz spoke of an instance when one person was helped in his time of need.
Last year a man found near a now-defunct gas pump at the store couldn’t remember who he was or how he got there, Gantz said.
It was later determined the man apparently was involved in a dunes accident and suffered a concussion, Gantz said. The visitor was treated for his injury, Gantz said.
If Gantz had not found him, the man’s fate could have been a lot worse, he said.
“Yeah, he fell off a quad,” he said. “I was the only one who walked up and he was laying there out of it.”
" Kinda looks like the IVPRESS needs better reporters! I would have not put that in the paper, especially when yes they charge so darn much for everything what a story still thriving on greed. I would have written a story about the people that have helped all that have been injured. You never hear who they are and I mean all of them not just there leaders who never really are out there. I bet they all have a story so interesting to learn about. "
mojave wrote on Jan 5, 2009 2:18 PM:
" I'll bet they hold the records for the highest prices too. "
holtville1 wrote on Jan 5, 2009 1:00 AM:
" That was an odd article.
I'm not sure what the point was, and the headline doesn't fit. "
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Barwain wrote on Jan 5, 2009 6:10 PM:
I would have not put that in the paper, especially when yes they charge so darn much for everything what a story still thriving on greed.
I would have written a story about the people that have helped all that have been injured. You never hear who they are and I mean all of them not just there leaders who never really are out there. I bet they all have a story so interesting to learn about. "