Jeffry Scott / Arizona Daily Star

Related articles:

New Tucson stores to cater to Hispanic shoppers

Other articles by Dale Quinn:

Metro Auto failed to pay lender, says complaint St. Mary's Hospital discontinues treating inmates of state prison Nurse-staffing agency sued by TMC in patient's deathTREO sets goal of helping entrepreneursAZ power co-ops get stimulus funds

Other articles by Mariana Alvarado:

Aumenta vigilancia en Nogales, Son. Lower-cost smokes to be delivered O'odham to get new travel card Watchful 'eyes' are monitoring Nogales, Sonora Construyen en Puerto Peñasco aeropuerto internacional

Finance and Accounting
Sun Van
Accounting Analyst Health Care
CODAC
MULTIPLE HEALTHCARE OPPORTUNITIES General
COMMUNITY PROVIDER OF ENRICHMENT SERVICES
CAREER GROWTH Trades/Construction
Sun Tran
PT Maintenance Supervisor Health Care
Fort Bayard Medical Center
Occupational Therapist Finance and Accounting
FLOWERS, RIEGER & ASSOCIATES
TAX STAFF Health Care
Marana Health Center
Dental Director

Two major retail chains looking to cash in on Spanish speakers are opening stores in Tucson — demonstrating the growing buying power of Hispanics, even during tough economic times.

El Super, a Los Angeles-based grocer, and La Curacao, an electronics and appliance retailer that styles its stores to resemble Mayan and Aztec pyramids, are setting up at the Southgate Shopping Center on South Sixth Avenue near Interstate 10.

El Super, owned by privately held Bodega Latina Corp., has scheduled its grand opening for Wednesday, said its president and CEO, Carlos Smith.

La Curacao, also L.A.-based, plans to open by August.

Both retailers target consumers who are most comfortable doing business in Spanish. Same plaza no coincidence

It's not a coincidence that El Super and La Curacao decided to move into the same plaza, said Carlos Garcia of Garcia Research in Los Angeles. "Business attracts business," said Garcia, who's done market research for both companies in the past.

Hispanic consumers have large families and strong social networks, Garcia said. They spend more money at grocery stores, but they're drawn more toward staples than prepackaged foods, he said.

They are also looking to stretch every dollar.

"They're very vulnerable to the recession, but their social structure allows them to survive," Garcia said.

And their numbers are growing.

Pima County's share of residents who say they are Hispanic rose from 29.3 percent in 2000 to more than 33 percent now, the U.S. Census Bureau says. The rate of change could soon accelerate, as many Hispanics are younger than 5, the data show.

The Hispanic population has emerged as a powerful force among retailers because it's young, said Maricela Solis de Kester, president of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Hispanics, like all other segments of the population, have cut back on discretionary spending, but young families still need groceries, she said.

"We have to spend the money, especially on the very basics and necessities, compared to non-Hispanic communities whose children are older and out of the house," de Kester said. "It's a different purchase power." Good time to expand

Now is the right time for any business — whether or not it targets Spanish speakers — to expand if it has the financial backing to do so, said Greg Furrier, a principal with Picor Commercial Real Estate Services in Tucson.

Rents are low and property owners are willing to offer lucrative deals to entice tenants to commercial developments, he said.

Even businesses that target the growing demographic aren't immune to the recession, however. La Curacao pushed back its opening to weather the rough economy, said Nancy McClure, a first vice president with CB Richard Ellis in Tucson. The company had originally announced a fall 2008 opening.

McClure, who brokered the Southgate deal for La Curacao, said the company began the process of moving to Tucson more than two years ago and selected Southgate — though it was quite run down at the time — because it's in the heart of the Hispanic community.

El Super made the decision to move to Tucson before the recession, said Smith, and the economic turbulence wasn't going to stop those plans. 130 to 140 employees

Bodega Latina has 15 locations in California and one in Phoenix. The company has plans to expand in Arizona, California and Nevada through the next year.

"El Super's primary target market is the Hispanic consumer," Smith said in an e-mail. "And similar to the Phoenix market, we believe the Tucson market presents an opportunity for us, given its demographic composition."

All signage in the store is in Spanish and English. The company has already hired the 130 to 140 employees needed to staff the store, Smith said.

For its storefront, El Super razed an existing building at Southgate, which had fallen into disrepair, and started from the ground up.

The center has undergone a $41 million renovation to attract new tenants. Now, a bbb! Fashion store is at the center and — in addition to La Curacao — Subway, Oasis Insurance and On Net Wireless have signed deals to move in, said Dave Hammack, a senior associate with Volk Co.

"We hope to have several more deals to announce soon," Hammack said. More Mexican products

The supermarket's opening is welcome news for Spanish-speaking consumers looking for Mexican products.

Arturo Urquiza, a native of Manzanillo, Colima, came to the U.S. two years ago and said he's not comfortable enough with his English to shop just anywhere, so he frequently shops at the Food City in South Tucson.

"I look for Mexican products and sometimes I can't find stuff here."

Although they are bilingual, Juan and Margarita Cisneros said they feel more comfortable being assisted in Spanish.

"This is what we needed. We shop for groceries almost every day and it's better if it is in Spanish," Juan Cisneros said. "We interact better with Spanish-speaking employees at the store. It is part of our roots."

The couple, who shop at Food City regularly, said the opening of El Super is good because it will increase competition and, they hope, drive down prices.

"When they opened in Phoenix, it affected all the stores in that area," said Edgar Cuevas, who works with both stores as a wholesale distributor in Tucson for Mojave Foods. "When people hear about a new place like El Super that is targeting people with fresh food and products, people just go."

Cuevas said El Super will attract people who have moved to Tucson from California because the store is a well-known chain in the Golden State.

For many, the store's name is a household word. "El Super" in Spanish is a general phrase for supermarket, and Bodega Latina capitalized on that when selecting the name.

"My mom never said, 'Let's go to Bashas', let's go to Costco,' or something like that," Cuevas said. "She used to say, 'Let's go to El Super.' "

Bashas' Inc., which owns Food City, doesn't comment on its competition, company spokeswoman Kristy Nied said.

But she did acknowledge that both stores share the same demographic. "Our core customer for Food City is Hispanic families," she said.

With the downturn in the economy and more families looking for bargain prices, Food City has ratcheted up its marketing toward English speakers, too. "It's been a solid niche for us in terms of serving the needs of the community," she said.

One small grocery store owner said he is not concerned about El Super's opening.

"It doesn't really hurt us," said Kenyon Gee, who owns T&T Market, 2048 S. Sixth Ave., several blocks north of El Super. He is more concerned that a big box, such as Wal-Mart or Costco, could one day open nearby.

De Kester, of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, also downplayed the impact El Super will have on local grocers, including carnicería meat markets. If Hispanic families love a certain place, she said, they'll keep going.

"As a population," she said, "we tend to be very loyal."