Interview: From Bubble Gum & Burritos to The Supermercado Jalisco Chain Today
The Supermercado Jalisco chain, one of the oldest and most successful Latino food grocers in the state of Georgia, is moving into the future while honoring its past. From the name alone, the importance of the state of Jalisco, Mexico is immediately clear. Having grown up in Chicago, IL, Jose Luis Covarrubias Pelayo, one of the owners and operators of the Supermercado Jalisco chain, recalls being the son of immigrants. His parents, Sebastian Covarrubias and Ma. De la Luz Pelayo, came to the United States from the small town of Villa Purificación, located in Jalisco, Mexico. Every summer, his parents would take Jose Luis and his siblings to visit the picturesque town where they would swim, ride horses, and run through the streets. It was true freedom for Jose Luis who can only recall beautiful memories from their trips to Jalisco, Mexico.
Even as a child, Jose Luis had an entrepreneurial spirit. Attending school in Chicago, he began selling gum to his classmates. As his gum sales increased, Jose Luis spoke to his mother, a phenomenal cook, and she began to make burritos for him to take to school. Bringing with him around twenty-five burritos per day, he’d sell them all before the school day ended. Unfortunately, his newfound success brought with it the attention from a teacher who asked Jose Luis what he was doing. When he told the teacher that he was selling burritos to his classmates, the teacher asked him for a burrito. After taking a bite, he told Jose Luis that he’d like another the following day. This passion for business has only grown since his days selling gum and burritos to both classmates and teachers.
When Jose Luis was around seven years old, he and his family visited his mother’s sister in Atlanta, GA. At that time, there weren’t many Latinos in the southern state, but his aunt wanted to open a restaurant so they could cater to the few Latinos who she knew lived in the state. At first, nothing came of the idea. Three years later, the family moved down to Georgia from Chicago, but Jose Luis’s father had a different idea. In December of 1992, instead of opening a restaurant, they opened a store, which became the first Supermercado Jalisco. At ten years old, both Jose Luis and his sister worked in their parents’ store. When school ended, they would go home, work on their homework for two hours, then go help their parents until the store closed. While selling food to classmates in Chicago nurtured Jose Luis’s entrepreneurial vision, it was the consistency of working in the first store that planted the seeds for the business acumen he is known for today.
Jose Luis tells us, “Like everyone starting a business, it’s working day and night in order to get ahead, and we weren’t the exception. Our lives changed completely after opening the first store.”
“Like everyone starting a business, it’s working day and night in order to get ahead, and we weren’t the exception. Our lives changed completely after opening the first store.”
Now, Jose Luis and his sister Rocio run the six stores they’ve expanded into.
According to Jose Luis, “Without the employees in each store, we wouldn’t have achieved the success that we have today. They show up and get their jobs done, wearing the Jalisco name with pride.”
Jose Luis shared that although the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult emotionally and personally, from a business standpoint, the stores have all seen increased traffic, which is continuing, albeit at a slightly lower level, into 2021. When we asked Jose Luis what he thought the future had in store, he told us, “Our plan for the future is to continue growing. The Greater Atlanta area is highly saturated, so we’re planning to expand into nearby states.”