There are those among us who still mourn the loss of the Hughes market in Malibu, which was replaced by Ralphs. I remember seeing Johnny Carson there buying ice cream, seeing Jeff Corey, the black-listed actor who became a famed acting teacher, and in whose legendary classes Jack Nicholson met Robert Towne.

But change is the true constant here, so the news that HOWS Market in Trancas is up for sale, that the little chain is being reduced to a single store, shouldn't come as a shock.

The name is an amalgam of the first initials of the partners in the store, among them a scion of the Hughes family. And so it is that another bit of Malibu's recent history goes away.