For 48 years, Escondido Feed & Pet Supply has been North County's go-to for everything dog, cat, and chicken. We're proud to be San Diego County's chicken specialists, alongside carrying one of the best selections of pet food and supplies around.

It all started with our founder, Cindy Lou, a Southern California native who moved from Orange County to San Diego in the '70s to attend San Diego State. Shortly after earning her teaching credential, she met her husband Jim, who'd grown up on a farm in East County and taught her everything she'd need to know about the feed business.

In 1975, the couple bought a feed store in El Cajon, and by 1978 they'd expanded to a second location in Escondido (the same year their son Evan was born). Cindy Lou traded her classroom for the store counter and never looked back.

A lifelong animal lover, Cindy Lou didn't just run the Escondido store, she raised her family in it. Longtime customers still tell stories about her sons, Evan and Reed, growing up between the aisles: playing in makeshift pens built from stacked dog food cans, scaling feed pallets like a jungle gym, and cooling off in stock tanks on hot afternoons. Both boys worked the store as they grew up (and both got fired more than once, which is its own kind of family tradition).

In 2005, after 27 years at the helm, Cindy Lou retired and sold the store to Evan. These days, she's living her own version of heaven on a ranch in Idaho with three horses, a mini mule, about 50 chickens, three goats, three dogs, and three cats.

Evan grew up in this business, literally, so stepping in as owner felt less like a career change and more like a continuation. He's spent his whole life learning the industry, on the farm and behind the counter, and he's brought that lifelong knowledge into a store that's evolved right alongside its customers.

What began as a horse-and-livestock operation has grown to meet a new North County: less land, more house pets, and still a deep love of chickens.

We're big supporters of the urban farming movement. Our staff is sharp and our prices are as competitive as they've ever been.

But the prices and selection aren't really what makes us different. It's the crew. At Escondido Feed, we know our customers: their names, their animals, their lives. We're a family of animal lovers who happen to run a feed store, and we treat every visit like it matters, because it does. We learn names, ask how you're doing, make the place fun for kids, and build the kind of store people come back to, year after year, generation after generation.

We're proud to be the oldest single-family-owned feed store in the county. Thank you for 48 years of support, here's to many more.