Chow’s Donuts is Bernard Simieng’s life. The 58-year-old arrives at his Oceanside Boulevard shop at 1 a.m. each day to make fresh sweets, then serves them to hungry customers well into the afternoon.
He’s operated the little store a few blocks east of Interstate 5 for 25 years, since escaping Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge. In fact, his first day in business was the day after he got married. “My wife is still mad at me” for skipping a honeymoon, he said.
That kind of devotion has earned the soft-spoken Simieng a loyal following, but might not protect him from being forced out of his store later this year.
International chain Dunkin’ Donuts is considering opening a franchise in the same shopping center and property owner Chris Park has told Simieng that, if the deal goes through, Chow’s will lose its lease in July.
Park, whose family has owned center for roughly 20 years, said he’s saddened at the prospect of losing a good tenant like Simieng, but has little choice — the strip mall is 30 percent vacant and it’s getting increasingly difficult to pay the mortgage, he said. A big-name anchor like Dunkin’ Donuts could save all the remaining businesses at the site.
“We feel terribly bad about the situation,” Park said.
A spokesman for the national chain said Friday that Dunkin’ Donuts is “exploring the opportunity” to open a franchise in Oceanside but was “unable to confirm any plans at this time.” Oceanside officials said initial talks indicate the shop would be a 2,200-square-foot stand-alone building with a drive-through.
The news that he could be forced out has blindsided Simieng, leaving him sleepless and anxious. But it pales in comparison to the heartbreak of Simieng’s childhood.
He was 14 in March 1975 when soldiers shot through the door of his family’s Phnom Phen home and ordered him, his seven siblings and their parents out. In the chaos around the Cambodian capital he was separated from his family, jostled away amid a crowd of others also forced from their homes, he said.
A scared boy wearing just one shoe, the famished Simieng lived on the streets for weeks. He woke up one morning to find he’d fallen asleep, exhausted, next to a dead body.
Soon, he was forced to work for Khmer Rouge in the jungle, where he fought through fever and malaria, he said. After four years, he escaped.
His parents and two siblings, he would later learn, had been executed by the regime.
On Thursday, seated at a table in his donut shop, Simieng stared off momentarily, then he wiped his eyes with his t-shirt collar. His voice cracked as he continued with a story he rarely tells.
He eventually made his way to a refugee camp, where a French aid worker helped him find a cousin in the United States who agreed to sponsor Simieng’s immigration bid. When Simieng decided to legally change his first name to something more western, he easily selected “Bernard,” the name of the aid worker.
“I am glad I ended up here (in the United States),” he said, tissue in hand. “You work hard, you can be successful.”
Eventually, he came to co-own a pizza shop in Inglewood, but it was destroyed in the 1992 riots. He used the little insurance money he collected to buy the Oceanside donut shop.
Most repeat customers know him as simply Bernard, but some mistakenly call him “Mr. Chow” — the name of the former shop owner. When Simieng and his wife (also a refugee) purchased the business a quarter-century ago, they couldn’t afford to buy new signs, so Chow’s it would remain.
Dunkin’ Donuts has more than 12,000 sites in 45 countries. In 2014, it started a move into Southern California and there are now six stores in San Diego County, including one on Camp Pendleton. The Oceanside spot would be the second North County location.
For some customers, Chow’s Donuts is an institution and gathering spot where they can swap stories and talk about the news of the day. Bruce Adams said it was during lively debate there with friends over coffee and donuts there that he decided to vote for a deceased candidate to become Oceanside’s treasurer.
“It’s a community meeting place,” said Adams, who is unhappy the shop might close. “I’m upset at the injustice and saddened at the stress it has given him.”
Other customers have started a social media campaign trying to save the shop. After seeing some of those posts, Oceanside residents Cindy and Roger Davenport made their maiden trip to Chow’s Thursday. Sacrificing their low-carb diet, they came to show support and “because we heard the croissants were great,” Roger Davenport said.
Before they left, Cindy Davenport spoke a little bit of French with Simieng, who is also fluent in English and knows a little Spanish and Chinese.
The Simiengs’ son, Nicolas Koeu, grew up in the shop and did his homework on a table near the counter. The 21-year-old now studies kinesiology at Cal State San Marcos, with hopes to attend University of Southern California. He still helps his dad out at Chow’s, as he did Thursday.
“He motivates me everyday,” Koeu said when his father stepped away to help a customer. “He doesn’t know fear. He’s not scared. He has taught me that.”
Simieng’s wife Phalla (pronounced Paula) is a nurse, but helps him every weekend at the shop. If he is forced out, he does not plan to relocate. Instead, at 58, he will look for a day job.
He said he’s still crossing his fingers that he will be allowed to stay.
“This is nothing compared to when I was younger,” Simieng said. “We are heartbroken, but in life you always have hope.”
teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
