Thread: Hispanic-flavored Walmart in Socorro TX lauded

Walmart's new approach in Socorro lauded

by Aileen B. Flores \ El Paso Times
Posted: 06/20/2011 06:52:21 AM MDT

SOCORRO -- A Hispanic-flavored Walmart that will open here soon is being welcomed with an abrazo by some residents while others see the danger in that embrace.

The new Neighborhood Market Walmart in Socorro will be the Bentonville, Ark.-based store's initial food market in El Paso that specifically targets the Hispanic community.

Kellie Duhr, a spokeswoman for Walmart, said construction of the 40,000-square-foot store is expected to begin this summer at the corner of Alameda Avenue and Rio Vista Drive.

The Walmart is expected to open in early 2012, creating 70 jobs.

"We chose this location because we want to provide our customers with a convenient family shopping center," Duhr said.

The Socorro store joins two other major grocery stores in the 17.5-square-mile city of about 30,000 people. A Central Vista Market and Lowe's Big 8 are already providing groceries.

Walmart officials said the Socorro store will carry a full line of groceries, including fresh produce, frozen foods, meats, dairy products and organic items.

Socorro city officials embraced the idea of a new Walmart as the subject was discussed at a recent City Council meeting.

City spokesman David Garcia said the fact that Socorro would have the first Hispanic-themed Walmart in the El Paso area shows that the community reflects the nation's growing diversity.

"Whenever you go to Walmart, they ask for your ZIP code," Garcia said. "To me, 79927 is a very popular and growing zip code and it happens to be in Socorro."
Garcia said the store will consist of "a mercado-type atmosphere" and is expected to attract people from adjacent areas.

Socorro residents are especially excited that this store will be among the models Walmart uses for its new Hispanic-themed supermarkets, he said.

Walmart recently opened a Supermercado Walmart in Houston and has other similar stores set for other cities.

Socorro interim city manager Manny Soto said the store will be part of a pilot program

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for Hispanic markets in the Southwest.
Thomas Fullerton, a professor of economics and finance at the University of Texas at El Paso, said Walmart continuously monitors market trends including customers' taste and preferences.

"It's not surprising that Walmart is trying to better serve this segment of the national market of the United States and from that perspective investing in an area such as Socorro. It makes a lot of sense," Fullerton said.

Alicia Esparza and her husband, Carmen Esparza, were happy to learn about the new store. The couple usually has to travel more than four miles to go grocery shopping.

The Esparzas live in San Elizario, where grocery store options are limited. They either go to the Walmart Supercenter on Alameda Drive at Loop 375, the Pro's Ranch Market on Zaragoza Road or the Central Vista Market in Socorro.

"It'll be another option. We won't have to go all the way to El Paso," Alicia Esparza said. Ê

But Socorro grocery store owner Robert Rios was not as happy as the Esparzas when he heard a new Walmart will be located less than a half-mile away from his business.

Rios and his family make a living out of their sales from El Cid Grocery and Meat Market at the corner of El Cid and Bufford streets.

Rios said he fears the new corporate store may contribute to a drop in sales in his store and undercut them.

Even though, he said, "we can't do anything about it, but to keep on working."

Fullerton said whenever a new corporate chain store opens in any part of the county, it tends to be good for the residents, but not for business owners.

He said the new store tends to lower prices and increase the variety of products available to the customers, affecting other area stores.

"The grocery-store market is one in which profit margins are very thin, so historically, when Walmart grocery stores have moved into neighborhoods across the United States, it has frequently caused other stores to go out of business.

"And that's simple because profit margins are consistently low in this sector and the arrival of a new well-organized efficient corporate entity like Walmart tends to reduce those profit margins even further," Fullerton said.

Earlier this year, operators of two main Hispanic supermarkets in El Paso, Vista Markets and Pro's Ranch Markets, agreed that Walmart is their main competitor. However, they said they are not afraid of Walmart's plans to open more stores in the El Paso area.

Vista Markets and Pro's Ranch Markets officials did not return calls for comment.

Walmart completed remodeling of a Supercenter near Yarbrough and Interstate 10 last year, adding some features similar to those found in the Vista and Pro's Ranch stores.

The store now has walls painted with vibrant colors and features an area named the "cocina," or kitchen -- a cluster of counters serving prepared Mexican food, Mexican drinks, a bakery with Mexican pastries, and a tortilleria, or tortilla factory.

Walmart officials said the new design is aimed at El Paso's Hispanic-majority population and it's not meant to replicate what Pro's Ranch and Vista are doing.

Sandy Bernal said unfortunately, people in Socorro do not have that many options when it comes to grocery shopping.

Bernal recently moved from Socorro to El Paso, but she is still working in the Lower Valley city.

Most local stores gain clientele over the years and the new Walmart does not necessarily mean they are going to run out of business, Bernal said.

"There are people who prefer Vista Market over Walmart," she said.

Bernal said the new Walmart will be just another store in Socorro.

Aileen B. Flores may be reached at aflores@elpasotimes.com; 546-6362.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_18312763

only Spanish-speaking workers wanted, right?

It's not as if it is new for Walmart to support ILLEGALS; go to any walmart parking lot in the Houston on the weekend and the ILLEGALS will be there some cooking and just in general hanging around eating and drinking.

Originally Posted by alamb

only Spanish-speaking workers wanted, right?

Without a doubt!

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