Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Sosa
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 6/23/2021
Mexican Grocery Store/Snack Bar Opens in Loyal (2021)
Mexican Grocery Store/Snack Bar Opens in Loyal
By Valorie Brecht
Luzelena and Liuvia Sosa (l-r) recently opened a grocery store in downtown Loyal featuring
Mexican products and snacks. Valorie Brecht/Clark County Press
The owners of a new grocery store and snack bar in Loyal hope to offer a little something for everyone.
“Abarrotes Mi Tiendita,” which translates roughly to “my little grocery store,.” Opened earlier this month in Loyal.
The store is on Main Street, just north of the Red Door Saloon in what used to be the C&J Auto and Machine building.
Luzelena Sosa of Unity will operate the store with the help of her daughter, Lluvia.
After Luzelena had an accident at her previous job and tore her shoulder, her husband wanted to do something for her, so he helped her start this grocery store.
Although Luzelena lives in Unity, she didn’t want to start a store there, as Abbotsford already has a couple Mexican grocery stores. She said she knew there were people from the Loyal area who traveled to Abbotsford to get Mexican grocery products, so having a store in Loyal would meet that need.
“We wanted something more convenient for people in town,” said Lluvia.
Renovations began March 27 and the store opened June 12. The store offers a variety of items, including those traditionally used in Mexican dishes like tortillas, rice, beans and salsa. But, it will also have other items like canned goods, boxed cake mixes, chips and packaged sweets. Luzelena plans to eventually have a refrigerated case with meat. The store also has some non-food items like personal care products, household cleaning supplies, jewelry and perfume.
There are also plans to open a snack bar, which Luzelena hoped to have up and running within a couple weeks of the store’s initial opening. That will have items like nachos; esquites, which literally means “toasted corn” and features corn kernels with fixings such as mayonnaise, lime, chili powder and cheese; sweet drinks and refreshers; smoothies; parfaits; fruit cups; and manzana loca, a sliced apple dessert with licorice and brown sugar.
Although a lot of the items are traditional Mexican foods, Luzelena and Lluvia hope that Latino and non-Latino people alike will enjoy what the sore has to offer.
“We just don’t want anyone to feel intimidated because it says, ‘Mexican Grocery’ – we are here for anyone,” said Lluvia.
She also said she and her mom would do their best to accommodate people’s requests for specific items.
“For anybody who walks in, they can feel free to let us know what they’d like to have us bring in and we’ll do whatever we’re capable of doing,” she said.
For more information, contact the store at 715-503-1080.
