GROCERY—The future home of Village Trader in Dos Vientos. Courtesy of Paradise Capital Group A stroll to the corner grocery store will finally be possible for residents of Dos Vientos Ranch this spring.

Village Trader, a neighborhood market, is expected to open in a 6,400-square-foot space at The Village at Dos Vientos in late May. The store’s operators, Ernest Zoumot and brothers Sam and Nick Barakat, signed a 10-year lease last month.

The three men recently went into business together to create Village Trader.

The Barakats have owned Leo’s Liquor & Deli in Simi Valley for 10 years and Village Commons Market in Camarillo for two years.

Many Dos Vientos residents have been clamoring for a nearby grocery store since the masterplanned community opened in the early 2000s. The nearest supermarket is an Albertsons two miles away on Reino Road.

“I work and live in the community, so it would be nice to have somewhere to go to grab milk, cereal, a quick snack,” Julie Mc- Conville told the Acorn last week.

A Dos Vientos resident recently named director of youth development at the Miller YMCA, McConville was escorting four students from Sycamore Canyon School to the Y.

The Village at Dos Vientos is sandwiched between the Y and the school.

“I personally have kids (at Sycamore) too, so it would be nice for them to go somewhere to grab something healthy,” McConville said as she and her charges walked past the space Village Trader will occupy.

One of the students, 9-year-old Jack Thornton, said he’s pleased to have a grocery store close to home.

“It’s going to be a lot easier, because we just live over there and we can just drive back and forth,” the fourth-grader said.

Zoumot said the market will stock fresh meats and produce as well as gourmet, organic and specialty items such as artisan cheeses and olive oils.

Village Trader will be small enough that customers can be in and out of the store quickly, he said.

“We’re looking to bring goodquality, healthy products at very competitive prices with an emphasis on convenience,” Zoumot said last week. “We want to be the market that the community thinks of when they have to do their daily shopping. . . . We’re looking forward to this.”

Like the business partners’ other stores, Village Trader will feature a “beer cave,” a walk-in cooler stocked with craft beers, and a temperaturecontrolled cellar that will hold a collection of difficult-to-find wines.

Peter Cohen, whose Beverly Hills-based Paradise Capital Group bought the shopping center in June 2011, said he’s delighted Dos Vientos will have a neighborhood grocer for the first time, meeting one of the most popular requests he’s heard from the community.

“We’ve managed to accomplish something that hasn’t been done in the past, and this is really a phenomenal achievement for the center and we think for the community as well,” Cohen said.

The Westlake High graduate has bought and revived sluggish shopping centers before, including the Newbury Park marketplace on Reino Road that’s home to CVS Pharmacy and Trader Joe’s.

Cohen said his next goal is to bring in a frozen yogurt or ice cream parlor or a sandwich shop to The Village, formerly known as Paraiso Town Center.

Anat Winston, who began leasing space at The Village last month, said a grocery store could be the linchpin that transforms the shopping center into a community focal point.

“I love it. I’m very happy about the idea,” said Winston, a 10-year Dos Vientos resident who opened Nati, a clothing store for women and teens, on Feb. 11.

“It’s just good for this community to have some place to go to. We hope this center will bring people together,” she said.

According to Cohen, the vacancy rate at The Village stands at 50 percent, up from 80 percent when he bought the underperforming shopping center less than two years ago.

Cohen has signed leases with Paraiso Family Dental and Orthodontics, ETF Portfolio Management, Team Resources, McQueen and Associates, Worldwide Supply and Conejo Valley Practice Management, a Medicare and private insurance management company.