Bob Tusquellas started working at the market 56 years ago as an 11-year-old helping slice bacon and wait on customers at his dad's shop. Today, his customers see him behind his counter, and they see him at a table with his daughters or grandchildren.
"My dad's philosophy, and it's mine too, is that the owner has to be there," he says.
"They know there's a Bob."
As sunlight fades, the market crowd grows younger, gray hair becomes blond or black. Grove shopping bags replace walkers, short-shorts replace knit slacks. People fill the West Patio -- home to E.B.'s Beer & Wine, a bar named for Earl Bell Gilmore -- for a rambunctious karaoke contest.
Lindsay Sherman, 26, and Joseph Hizon, 29, come to sing. Sherman's husband, Michael Owen, and a friend, Diana Cruz, cheer them on. They all work at CBS and frequent the market.
"Every time we have guests, this is the first place we bring them," Sherman says.
On Thursday, the USC marching band, dignitaries and a cake shaped like the market's clock tower will help celebrate 75 years of not-very-much change for this Los Angeles icon. (The official ceremony is from 8 to 9 a.m., with music and entertainment from noon to 10 p.m.)
Not that time stands still. Stan Savage has some plans: he'd like to add a traditional Italian deli. He's working on parking and on the market's green practices. He brought farmers back; they sell their produce Fridays and Saturdays.
These things take time, he says, not without affection. "We don't move quickly on anything."
And that may be the market's formula for success.
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mary.macvean@latimes.com
