Small San Benito County Latino supermarkets are attracting more
and more customers, gaining popularity even in a marketplace
dominated by large, nationwide chains.
Small San Benito County Latino supermarkets are attracting more and more customers, gaining popularity even in a marketplace dominated by large, nationwide chains.
Area markets that emphasize Latino products have thrived, due in part to the heavy concentration of Spanish speakers in the county who feel more comfortable shopping in bilingual markets and to the habits of their customers that keep products fresh due to high turnover. Jim Gibson, owner of Hollister Supermarket on Third Street, Hollister Super on San Juan Road and Windmill Market in San Juan Bautista, said his markets have their own truck that buys produce fresh every day from larger wholesale markets in San Francisco to meet the demand of customers who shop for their produce specifically for that day’s meal.
Paula Schultz, of Hollister, juices fruit every day and relies on Hollister Supermarket to provide her with affordable and reliable produce.
“If I go to Safeway or Albertson’s the prices are double,” Schultz said. “Things are a little more ripe here. I need things to be fresh or it clogs the juicer.”
Vegetables and fruits found in Latino supermarkets are often cheaper than their counterparts in larger chain markets. Avocados at Hollister Supermarket sell for 50 cents each whereas avocados at the larger chain stores often retail for upwards of $1 each.
Gibson said Latinos often shop every day, creating a higher food turnover. Sylvia Martinez, of Hollister, who was shopping at Hollister Supermarket Tuesday morning, echoed what makes these markets so attractive.
“I just shop here for the vegetables,” Martinez said. “I think they’re cheap and high quality.”
Many Spanish-speaking Latinos shop at such markets because of the bilingual staff. Gibson said all of his employees speak Spanish. But English-only customers also find value in Latino supermarkets.
“Our produce draws a lot of non-Latino customers in,” Gibson said.
But Latino supermarkets offer many products that are simply unavailable at larger chain stores. The meat counter of Hollister Supermarket proudly displays beef tongue, pig’s feet, beef hearts and liver, pig ears and the essential ingredient in menudo – tripe, or pork stomach.
“You might not even find them behind the counter of chain stores,” Gibson said.
If a fat cut of London Broil is on the menu, Latino supermarkets may not be able to provide, but much of Latino cooking prepares meat differently, Gibson said. Hollister Supermarket features thin cuts of beef and pork at its meat counter, perfect for marinating and grilling.
“(Latinos) don’t like thick cuts of meat and they prefer lean cuts,” Gibson said.
Pantry items such as dried chilis, masa flour, spices and even tamarind can be found in Safeway, Nob Hill or Albertson’s, but not with the variety and ease of Latino supermarkets. Teresa Mercado, of Hollister, shops at Hollister Supermarket for the produce and for specific Mexican food items.
“My husband is Mexican so I do a lot of Mexican cooking,” Mercado said. “I can find it easier here.”
The specialization of more and more markets offering Mexican-American and Latino-specific products follows the trends of immigration and growth of the Latino population in the United States over the past two decades.
As of 2004 there were more than 10 million Latino households in the United States, up from just less than six million in 1990 and projected to rise to 13.5 million by 2010, according to Ahorre Marketing. By 2007 one in five people in the United States are expected to be of Hispanic or Latino origin, according to Ahorre.
The United States Latino population controlled $653 billion in spending power in 2003 and is expected to control more than $1 trillion by 2008, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth. There is now estimated to be more than 42 million people of Hispanic or Latino origin in the United States.
San Benito County’s population is 47 percent people of Latino or Hispanic origin, and Hollister’s population is 55 percent people of Latino or Hispanic origin. San Benito County and Hollister have 37.8 percent and 42.7 percent respectively of the population speaking a language other than English in the household, most of which is Spanish, according to Census 2000.
But California has a strong trend-setting tradition, seeing its exports such as movies, iPods, blue jeans and hippies catch on everywhere. And Latino supermarkets are nothing new in California. The Mexican-American Grocers Association was established in Los Angeles in 1977.
Gibson bought what is now Hollister Super on San Juan Road in the 1980s. Back then, it was a regular market, but Gibson caught on to the surrounding west side community’s needs.
“I realized it was going to be Latino trade or nothing,” Gibson said. “A lot of times I was the only gringo on the premises.”
Al Martinez, executive director of the Hollister-based Economic Development Corporation, said Gibson did his homework. The Latino market is growing and economically powerful, Martinez said.
“Running the EDC, we do a lot of small business consulting,” Martinez said. “And we tell them, ‘Don’t ignore that market.'”
Mickie Luna, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, remembers shopping at the Hollister Drive-In Market as a child. Luna said many Latinos rely on the Spanish-speaking workers at such markets and the friendly neighborhood atmosphere. People in smaller markets often know each other and the people behind the counters, Luna said.
Luna believes the larger chain supermarkets fail to provide the intimacy smaller markets offer.
“The value of customer service has gone down so much in larger markets,” Luna said. “In these smaller markets it’s still there.”
The opening of Lucky’s, now Albertson’s, on East Street in the 1990s prompted Gibson to specialize the Baler’s Market on Third Street. Unable to house the variety of products the larger chain supermarkets offer, Gibson once again decided to provide for the Latino community’s needs by offering Latino-specific products in order to stay competitive with the new giant looming near.
Latino customers traditionally buy the same types of products over and over again, allowing for a smaller market offering only 10,000 to 13,000 individual items to compete with the larger supermarkets like Safeway, which offer 45,000 to 50,000 individual items, Gibson said. Larger chain supermarkets have customers who tend to experiment more with their home cooking, Gibson said.
“Safeway needs 55,000 feet because (their customers) are all over the lot,” Gibson said.
Gibson’s supermarkets, which combine for 30,000 square feet, compete strongly in revenue with Hollister’s Safeway, Albertson’s and Nob Hill, each of which is almost double in size of Gibson’s three markets together.
“I’d say we’re just behind Safeway, even with Nob Hill and ahead of Albertson’s,” Gibson said.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335, or [email protected].
