New store/snack bar opens its doors on Loyal’s Main Street
It may not be your typical grocery store, but the new Abarrotes Mi Tiendita Mexican Market and Snack Bar is already making a rumble in Loyal. Located at 132 N. Main St., the little store will soon be expanding with the introduction of a fresh snack bar to give customers a taste of another culture.
Luz Elena Sosa and her daughter Llovia Sosa of Unity are the owners and operators of Abarrotes Mi Tiendita, which literally translates to the phrase, ‘Grocery Store.’ The pair opened the store on June 12, and so far, they said business has been going well.
“We’ve already sold a lot,” said Llovia, who served as translator for her mother. “We expected a lot of the customers to be Hispanic but it has turned out to be the complete opposite. It’s something that makes her feel good, makes us feel welcome here (in Loyal).”
The desire to open up a small business was something that Luz Elena had for many years. While working at a cheese factory in Stanley, she said the work made her feel drained and wanting to do something more. For her, looking into opening a business such as a restaurant seemed a logical choice.
“One day she got out of work, and wanted to do something for herself,” said Llovia. “She looked for something like a restaurant, but when that didn’t work, she went ‘OK, there are no grocery stores here’ and started thinking about that. That was five or six years ago.”
In pursuing her dream, Luz Elena said they looked at many buildings, including the one which they now operate in. When they first visited the building, she said it was in need of many repairs and not really an option for them. But, on returning to the site the owners of the building had begun repair work to return it to use. It was then that they decided to approach them about their dream.
“We saw this building (when they originally began looking for places),” said Llovia. “There needed to be a lot of work put into it, so we didn’t pursue it then. A couple months ago we decided to check this place out again. The new owner was already refurbishing it. They were tearing down walls, and when we told them what we wanted and when, they hurried to get it done.”
After that, things came together rather quickly and they were able to open their doors on June 12. So far, Luz Elena said there has been a lot of support from community members, who are very happy to have a grocery store in town.
“We’ve been getting a lot of support from the community for the snack bar, they are excited to have a grocery store in town,” said Llovia. “They have given us a lot of suggestions to us on things we could add so they don’t have to travel out of town to get what they need.”
Currently, Abarrotes Mi Tiendita offers many different types of Mexican foods, including tortillas, tostadas, chips, candies and fresh vegetables. In the next few weeks, Luz Elena and Llovia said they are hoping to open up a snack bar in the back of the building that will allow them to serve ready-to-eat foods such as nachos, quesadillas, sandwiches and other foods.
“Right now, we want to see what is our best selling products,” said Llovia. “We are hoping the inspector comes in about a week to allow us to open the snack bar. We will begin operating it some time after that.”
For now, Llovia and Luz Elena said the plan is to continue to operate Abarrotes Mi Tiendita for about a year at its current location and gauge the public’s interest. If they continue to receive support from the community for their store, they said they could stay and expand their product line.
“We want to see how things work out,” said Llovia. “We will give it about a year, we will stay if it goes well, if not, we may move locations.”
CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTO
