And for nearly 30 minutes after it opened Wednesday morning a steady stream of residents filled into the store.

That line was an indication to Mayor Paul Leon of the needs in the community.

"The residents have been screaming for this," Leon said, as he watched the line from outside the grocery store.

For years residents have been asking for more choices in the south Ontario area, he said.

"This is truly the center of the community," Leon said. "But they've only had very few options for a number of years."

For the longest

Some of the approximately 100 customers wait to enter the new Fresh and Easy in south Ontario after a grand-opening ceremony on Wednesday morning. (Will Lester/Staff Photographer)

And for years, businesses wouldn't venture to expand in the area because of the lack of population, said Jerry Blum, the city's planning director.

"They will come only when they feel that the market will be there to support it," Kroutil said.

Everything north of the 60 Freeway are light industrial buildings and there is only housing on the south side between the 60 Freeway and Riverside Drive, Blum said.

"Cows don't buy groceries," Blum said. "If you draw a circle in this area for a three-mile radius you'll find half of it is dairy land."

Despite the fact that residents were telling city officials they wanted more, there wasn't enough "rooftops," or homes for companies to come into the area, Blum said.

But in recent years, new development has been popping up near the 60 Freeway such as the Home Depot, 24 Hour Fitness, Mexican grocery store Cardenas and now the Fresh and Easy.

That also has to do with the fact that New Model Colony was being planned and developed, Blum said.

The new stores were positioning themselves for the population growth, Kroutil said.

But Fresh and Easy grocery stores are a different concept, said Brendan Wonncott, a spokesman for Tesco, the company that operates the store.

"Because of the size of our stores, we can move into a lot of different areas," he said.

It can thrive in underserved communities like south Ontario because "what we offer is definitely unique and appealing to anybody," Wonncott said.

In general, Ontario is an ideal spot for Fresh and Easy specifically because it offers fresh food at affordable prices, he said.

In an struggling economy, shoppers are looking to save, Wonncott said.

Debra Jenkins, was among those who was looking to get her shopping done at an affordable price.

"We all ready have things here, Ralph's is great but this is a different focus," Jenkins said. "When I found out this was going to open here I thought it was a tremendous addition."

Ruby Soria said she is just glad to have the store, which touts itself as a neighborhood market in Ontario.

Prior to Wednesday Soria said she's had to do her grocery shopping in Azusa, which is near the school her son attends.

"I just love the concept of the store," she said. "You can get in and out really fast because of the way they have packaged things."

The store is also important to the community because it adds about 20 to 30 jobs, Leon said.

It will also help generate more business for the companies in the shopping center with the grocery store, he said.

But just as the area was starting to see some new development, the economy and the slowdown in building, means it will be quite some time before any more new retailers come into the area, Kroutil said.

"I think the hardest thing is to get the first one in. Once it starts to become successful others are very likely to follow," Kroutil said.

Fresh and Easy is at 2645 E. Riverside Drive. For more information call, (909) 923-1786.