Willow Glen Resident

Business

Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Easy and Convenient: Mercado Las Palmas owner and manager Miguel Lopez opened his full-service market to the delight of residents living near Bird Avenue and Willow Street.

Full-service grocer on Bird wins fans in neighborhood

By Lynn Crocker

Residents who live near the intersection of Bird Avenue and Willow Street have reason to celebrate. A convenient full-service grocery store, Mercado Las Palmas, is now open.

The compact space is stocked with just about everything from paper goods and cleaning supplies to toys and schools supplies to fresh meats, vegetables and fruits. Customers are also in luck it they need hardware items or kitchen utensils. The market also has a gourmet coffee bar and assorted Mexican pastries.

On weekends the smells and flavors of the market waft through the area, with on-site grilling. Customers can take home barbecued ribs, tri-tip or chicken.

"It is a small store, but I have everything I could think of that someone will need," says owner Miguel Lopez, who opened the store with his cousin Antonio Juarez. "If someone comes in and I don't have what they are looking for, I will do my best to have it the next time they come in. Customer service is the main thing. I want people to walk out with a smile on their face. If they do that, they will be back."

Lopez is quick to point out that the store caters to a diverse group, not just the Hispanic community.

"In the meat counter, for example, we have the thinner cuts that Hispanics prefer, but also have thicker cuts such as T-bones and tri-tips that Americans prefer," he says.

The store, which took six months of planning and preparation, opened its doors June 16 next to Scott's Video on the corner of Bird Avenue and Willow Street.

Lopez is a longtime resident of the neighborhood, and he said it is his familiarity with the area that made him aware his community needed a grocery store.

"One day I was driving by and saw the space was for lease, and I immediately thought, what a great location for a store," he says. "This is a neighborhood store that people can walk to and do their shopping."

Lopez is not a newcomer to the grocery industry. He has more than a decade of experience working for Albertsons. He was responsible for ordering merchandise and stocking the shelves. As rumblings of store closures and layoffs began to surround the chain, Lopez knew it was time to leave and venture out on his own.

"I was there for 15 years but didn't see a future for myself," he says. "It took a lot of thinking to make the decision to leave and open the store, but I knew I would have to take a risk if I wanted to get somewhere."

Resident Bernadette Walters is glad Lopez took the leap of faith and opened the store in her neighborhood.

"It has already been so convenient to have this store just down the street from me," she says. "When I heard about the Albertsons further down Bird closing I got worried that I was going to have to go all the way to over to Almaden Road or Hamilton Avenue to do my grocery shopping. It is great that I can stay in the local area and find everything I need, including fruits and vegetables, dairy and meat. Everything is very fresh and great quality."

Mercado Las Palmas at the corner of Bird Avenue and Willow Street is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.