A Taste of Old Country in ‘Little Armenia’ : Neighborhood: The cluster of small, family-owned businesses stretches for several blocks from intersection of Washington Boulevard and Allen Avenue.

Bottles of pomegranate molasses and huge jars of sesame tahini share shelf space with more mainstream convenience-store fare at Lucy’s Mini Mart in Pasadena. Copies of the Beirut Times sit atop stacks of canned vegetables with Arabic labels. A gray-haired man hurries out of the back room at the sound of the door. He speaks English with a thick Armenian accent.

It sounds like a remembered scene from the old country, and in a way it is. This is “Little Armenia,” a cluster of small, family-owned businesses stretching for several blocks in each direction into Pasadena and Altadena from the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Allen Avenue.

The man behind the counter of Lucy’s Mini Mart is Ben Ouzounian, a shopkeeper who typifies much of what makes this part of town unusual. Like Ouzounian, many of the proprietors in this district are Armenians who came from the Middle East to join relatives already settled in Pasadena. And, like Lucy’s Mini Mart, most of the businesses here are mom-and-pop operations.

The district practically shuts down on Sundays and Armenian holidays. But on Saturdays it has a bustling, small-town vitality.

The Armenian business district took on much of its current flavor in the late 1970s, when a large influx of immigrants fleeing the Lebanese civil war and the Iranian revolution settled in Pasadena and parts of Altadena. Attracted by an already well-established Armenian community, including several churches and cultural centers, many of these newcomers set up shop along the Washington corridor. Inexpensive commercial space in the district allowed them to continue the trades they had practiced in the old country. Today about 80% of the approximately 100 businesses in the district are Armenian-owned, according to estimates by the city of Pasadena.

“Armenians are typically willing to try anything,” said Al Meymarian, who for 32 years has helped run Altadena Beverage, a liquor store at 1850 N. Allen Ave. in Altadena. “They’ll take the risk to start their own business. They also have a very personable style of doing business.”

That personable style gives the area a down-to-earth atmosphere, said neighborhood resident Robin Ortega. “Everybody’s like family here,” said Ortega, who works part time at Star Video at 1878 E. Washington Blvd. in Pasadena. “We all know each other.”

Even the district’s answer to the ubiquitous American shopping mall has an ethnic flavor. About 15 Armenian businesses--clothing and jewelry boutiques, a printer, medical offices--populate the Washington Mini Mall, just east of the corner of Washington Boulevard and Allen Avenue in Pasadena.

The anchor store is Good Foods Market, a mid-size grocery that survives across the street from Vons by specializing in imports and ethnic foods. Second-story mall shops look out over the food market, giving the mall a marketplace atmosphere.

Not surprisingly, many of the people who shop at the mini-mall and elsewhere in the district are Armenian. “Especially for the older ones, it means so much to be able to conduct their business in their native language,” said Berberian, a case manager for Armenian Social Services who works mainly with the elderly.

However, many of the businesses, especially those that offer such general services as dry cleaning, real estate or shoe repair, have made the transition from ethnic business to neighborhood business. Lara Jingeuzian, an employee of Mark Allen Cleaners at 1707 E. Washington Blvd. in Pasadena, estimates that 20% of her customers are Armenian.

Even the specialty food stores are gaining a more mixed clientele as local palates acquire a taste for Armenian food. For many who are not Armenian, the district’s markets and restaurants have been an addictive introduction to Middle Eastern cuisine.

“I look around in some of the Armenian food stores and say, ‘Wait a minute! What are all these non-Armenians doing here?’ ” said Berberian. “But then I realize that I eat Mexican food and love it. I eat Chinese food and love it. So I guess these people are just doing the same thing.”

Fresh pita bread, stuffed grape leaves and the savory lahmejune (“Armenian pizza”) are popular with non-Armenian customers, shop owners say. So is the locally produced Armenian string cheese, a mild mozzarella flavored with anise.

A new blending of ethnic flavors is emerging in the district in a cooperative movement among Armenian and non-Armenian businesses. The Washington Boulevard Improvement Assn. is working with merchants to dress up their storefronts and with the city to have more traffic lights and crosswalks installed in the area. The goal is to capitalize on the ambience of the area by attracting more “strolling traffic,” organizers say.

Victor Cuardra, who with his wife and son has run the Burrito Express Restaurant at 1597 E. Washington Blvd. in Pasadena for 13 years, spearheads the association.

“I have seen this area change, and I’ve watched it blend and merge,” Cuardra said. “It’s not just an Armenian area, it’s a neighborhood community where everybody feels at home.”