El Cajon Boulevard Coco's to become a 7-Eleven

The former Coco's Bakery Restaurant location at 2644 El Cajon Boulevard will become a 7-Eleven store. According to Margaret Chabris, director of corporate communications with 7-Eleven, Inc., in Dallas, they will construct a new 3010-square-foot building with “four multiple-pump gasoline dispensers.” Opening date is “by mid-December 2014,” Chabris said in an interview.

Steve Aldana, spokesperson for El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association, said via email, “Wow, that’s definitely not good news. The typical single-story, stand-alone building with a parking lot in front isn’t what we are envisioning for the future of El Cajon Boulevard.” The new structure will occupy a 0.72-acre corner lot at the Oregon Street intersection.

Aldana included a statement from Cuong Nguyen, president of the Boulevard BIA: “We would have preferred to have a local restaurant operator move in to utilize the existing restaurant space.”

The new store, doing business as 7 Eleven 36990, has applied for a Type 20 license from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, allowing off-sale of beer and wine. The former Coco's did not sell alcoholic beverages.

There are already three 7-Eleven stores fairly close in North Park and University Heights, at 2404 University Avenue, 3152 University Avenue, and 3019 Meade Avenue. A couple of gas stations are two blocks away at El Cajon Boulevard and Texas Street.