15 Years of Community, Resilience, & Heart

A family's story at Ava's Downtown Market and Deli

A dream, a family, a grocery store. Ava's Downtown Market was founded in late 2011 by Juan Origel and Ann Ransbottom, two proud Americans with immigrant roots who were eager to serve and make a difference in their community. What started out as an ambitious project came to be a grocery store that has been an integral part of the Mountain View community. We have been a lot more than just a place to buy groceries, we've been a neighbor and a true embodiment of dedication during unprecedented economic times. Our doors have been open to cater to the needs of our patrons, providing our community with locally-sourced, premium, and eclectic selections, all while fostering connections, camaraderie, and love. We wanted to share what these past 15 years of business have done for us, and we are incredibly grateful for the support we have received over the years that allowed our family to flourish. We look forward to all that comes next.

15 years is more than a milestone for a small, family-owned market — it is a story of perseverance. We have navigated difficult economic times and faced challenges that could have closed our doors. With rapidly increasing costs of doing business, the expensive nature of Silicon Valley, and the ever-growing difficulty of competing with large corporate conglomerates, we have seen many neighboring establishments come and go on our privileged row of Castro St. The combination of Juan's tenacity and our community’s support have kept us afloat during these unforgiving times. With constant demands and projects, Juan has showed up to work almost every single day, working close to 360 days per year, since his business opened. Rain, shine, awake, or tired, he manages daily operations, makes sure his community has what it needs, and is always on alert in case there are any emergencies or an employee calls in sick. We are also indebted to our loyal community who has shown up for us and supported us throughout these years.

Our community means everything to us, and we would not be here without them. Our customers are our neighbors, and we treasure every interaction we have with them. We have served generations of families, watched children grow up and leave for the school of their dreams, shared conversations, celebrated milestones and good times, and stood alongside people during difficult ones. Our shelves and parking lot may not be nearly as large as those of large chain grocery stores, and we most certainly do not have the same resources, but what we provide our community expands far beyond square footage and product selection. We get to know our customers personally and foster connection and belonging. For 15 years, our community has been there for us. Every purchase made at our store directly supports the people who live, work, and care about this community. To a greater extent, every purchase at our store has helped the kids of the Origel family flourish and pursue opportunities their parents dreamed of providing them.

The Family

Ashley, our oldest, is now 35 years old and had a front-row seat to the 15 years of grit our family put into this business. She worked at the store during its first year of operation and says it has shaped how she works to this day. She also worked during the early days of the pandemic, where she found out during a shift she was pregnant with her now 5-year-old Robbie who keeps her busy with soccer and baseball events. She graduated from San Jose State University in 2013 and has led a very successful career in her beloved field of HR, holding several prominent roles in many companies and currently the title of Head of People Operations and Partnering at a tech startup in San Francisco.

Andrew, the original middle child, just shy of 27 years of age, has worked at the store from day one as well. He put in 8-hour shifts from a young age all through high school, and still comes in whenever duty calls and his schedule allows. What started behind the counter at Ava's Market taught him the work ethic that's carried him through tech: from Autopilot Engineer to Data Collection Lead at Tesla, to managing multilingual AI data annotation at Meta, to leading Robot Operations at Physical Intelligence. Today he's a Robotics Solutions Architect & TDM at Innodata, architecting cutting-edge data pipelines that power the next generation of embodied AI and humanoid robotics. He is most proud of being dad to his amazing and sweet-hearted 6-year-old girl, Isabel.

Matthew, our later-in-life middle child, turned 25 years old this September. He has worked at Ava's throughout high school and every summer he has been home afterward. Matthew is on track to become a world-class musician. He graduated from UCLA in 2023 with a Bachelor's of Music, earned First Prize in the San Diego Flute Guild Collegiate Competition, and studied with world-class flutist Denis Bouriakov. He then spent three years in Madrid earning an Artist Diploma at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, one of the world's most prestigious music schools, where he studied with Jacques Zoon and was named "Most Outstanding Flutist" by Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain in 2026. He has performed professionally across the U.S., Argentina, and Europe with prominent conductors and ensembles, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Teatro Colón, Elbphilharmonie, and the Hollywood Bowl. This fall he heads to Freiburg, Germany, to pursue a Master's in Flute Performance, on his way to an orchestral career in Germany.

Ava, whose name inspired Ava's Downtown Market and Deli, is now 15 years old and has grown up with the store. She's been nominated for Bay Area High School Girls Athlete of the Week, plays on the 16u Suncats Jimenez Guterriez National, an elite travel softball team as catcher and infield, and is currently maintaining a 4.0 GPA this school year. She also plays center and quarterback on the Varsity Flag Football team at Homestead High School, and in 2023 became the first girl on the 12u All Stars in Sunnyvale Little League history. She hopes to pursue a career in pediatrics in the future.

Looking Ahead

As we look toward the future, we do so with gratitude — for every customer, employee, family member, and neighbor who has supported us and encouraged us to keep going.

When you support a small local business, you're not just making a purchase — you're helping keep a dream alive and a neighborhood strong.

For 15 years, we have weathered storms, survived a pandemic, and kept showing up for our community.

We hope to continue serving our community for another 15 years, and with your continued support, we believe we can. Here's to another 15 years of serving our neighbors and proving that small and local can have a very big heart. Thanks for being a part of our journey.

— With love, the Origel Family