Encinitas: Our History and People

and grew tobacco. Unfortunately, the civil unrest
continued and in 1955, during the Istanbul
Pogrom, the Turks burned down many villages
including theirs. Like many other Greeks, Despina
became a refugee and moved to America.
She and her husband, Stellanos (Steve)
Aslanidis, landed in Indianapolis, moved to
Arizona and then to Los Angeles. From there,
they re-located to Leucadia.
Charlie was ten when he arrived with his mother
Maria, Despina’s daughter. They moved to Los
Angeles and bounced around from place to place.
“My dad grew up next to a gas station in
Greece,” said Niko. “His love for cars goes back
to his childhood.”
Niko’s paternal grandmother, Despina, found
work as a seamstress in Los Angeles. She
worked for a famous designer and made dresses
for many Hollywood movie stars.
Maria bought a house in Los Angeles and
then bought property in Leucadia in the early
1970s, including a hotel originally called the Las
G
Above: Charlie’s Foreign Car Service
today with two generations of the
Sougias family (from left to right):
Christine, Niko, Shelly, and
Charlie Sougias.
Left: Charlie Sougias and
Despina Aslanidis.
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