by Kevin Cody
Asked in 2019 if competing against pet chain stores was a challenge, Abu Siddia answered,
“It’s a challenge for them to compete against us. We own our property and our labor costs are low.”
Siddia’s wife Maria had owned Pet Mart in Hermosa Beach since 1975. The two became partners in the store when they married in the late 1980s.
Maria passed away from cancer in 2020. Abu passed from cancer two weeks ago, at age 70.
The pet store’s future is uncertain, but Abu’s hope was that the store would be bought by someone who would keep it a pet store, his son said this week.
Siddia came to the United States from Pakistan when he was 19. After working as a mechanic for the Air Force, he bought the Texaco gas station on Aviation Boulevard in Hermosa Beach, across the street from Pet Mart.
His son said he frequented the pet store as a child, resulting in Abu meeting Maria and the two of them marrying.
Like Siddia, Marie was an immigrant business owner who moved to Hermosa in the early 1970s.
Maria, was born in Portugal and grew up in Mozambique before moving to Hermosa Beach.
“I had to leave. They were killing all the native Portuguese,” Maria said in the 2019 interview.
In 1984 the pet store caught fire and the property owner didn’t want to rebuild it.
“A developer wanted to partner with me to buy the property. He told me I’d never get a bank loan on my own because I was a woman and a foreigner,” Maria recalled.
Maria got the loan and rebuilt the store.
After Abu and Maria married, Abu sold the gas station. Over the subsequent fur decades Pet mart became a destination for pet supplies, and pet conversation with the affable couple.
In addition to dog and cat supplies, Pet Mart sold reptiles and its nearly 50 lighted aquariums were the South Bay’s only source of pet fish.
But Abu never gave up his love of auto mechanics. The Pet Mart parking lot always had a dozen used cars Abu repaired, and frequently sold to Pet Mar customers.
Abu was also a popular fixture on the Hermosa Beach Strand, where he met up with fellow walkers at 5 a.m. every morning.
Abu is survived by his son Dan’s family, including daughters June, 15, and Skyler 11.
A memorial for Abu at Pet Mart is planned, but a date has not been set. ER
