Hadley’s moving to new building
A fixture along I-10 for decades is moving. Hadley’s and its famous date shakes are getting a new building right next to the old one.
The flagship store holds a lot of memories for those living and visiting the Coachella Valley.
“I love seeing the sign from the highway,” said Phoenix resident Meghan Luther.
It’s a sign that’s drawn in visitors driving to and from Palm Springs to this Hadley Fruit Orchard store since the 1960s.
“One of the traditions was on the way home we would stop at Hadley’s, so we’ve been stopping here since 1963 every summer and now I have grandchildren and we have kept the tradition up and we come every summer,” said Santa Ana Therese Duggan.
It’s a store that has a lot of memories for a lot of people.
“My family and I used to take road trips and I we always stop here for date shakes and we stop and get fun candies and that kind of fun thing so a huge childhood memory,” said Luther. “Now we live in Arizona, so when we come back to southern California we stop here and get banana date shakes. Now I’ve introduced it to my boyfriend and now it’s apart of our traditions when we come to California.”
“We always get a shake or ice cream today we had lunch we always used to stuff for the date shake,” said Duggan.
“We just like coming here because of the dried fruit and the other snacks. The kids like a little dried nuts, we can make snack trail mixes for them,” said Moreno Valley Marisol Gwynne.
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians, who took over ownership in 1999, hopes to continue that tradition with a new 12,500 square foot store.
It’s already under construction right next door to the current one, behind Ruby’s Diner.
“I think it’s going to be nice it’s been here for a long time a nice upgrade would be nice,” said Gwynne.
It will feature all of the Hadley favorites: the date shakes, dried fruits and nuts, but also home-baked bread, pizzas and a new patio area.
“It’s that kind of old world feel and it’s special to a lot of different people that why we see it so crowded when we are here, clearly it means something to a lot of families,” said Luther. “It’s just reminds me of childhood and my family.”
The current building and the land it sits on is still owned by the Hadley family. No word on what will happen to it once the store moves to it’s new location early next year.
