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Old Businesses Out New Businesses In

            It is tricky arranging an interview with a couple who are running a thriving business and trying to open another at the same time.  Ray and Angie Trujillo are also busy with children, grandchildren and community commitments.  I wanted to talk with Ray about the changes occurring in South Phoenix and a petition that was on the counter near the cash register of his feed store.  The position is to fight the new restrictions being legislated against large animals usually found on a farm.  Ray Trujillo intimated that “they” were trying to run him out of business.  When a scheduled visit fell through, we arranged another time later in the day and I had time to look around the neighborhood where Ray’s Feed Store had been located since 1981. 

            Seventh Avenue seems to terminate at Baseline, but the southward route of Seventh Avenue picks up again one block to the west of the intersection.  The feed store is almost at the foot of Seventh Avenue.  A recently added Circle K and a new tire shop straddle the east and west sides of Seventh Avenue at the intersection.  Next to the tire shop, a new business opened the week prior to my visit.  It is a kind of convenience store that caters to the Latino population of South Phoenix. 

            There was a long row of foods with Mexican labels, fruity drinks with Spanish names, and piñatas near the ceiling.  I talked with the man behind the counter about the new enterprise.  He shared that as soon as the business obtains a liquor license, the long bare wall at the back of the store will carry beer and wine.  The gentleman explained that he was a student of Justice Studies at Arizona State University in Tempe and his uncle, Naser opened the business as an expansion of a similar store he has in the west valley.  He noted that the east side of the valley was not a good place for business.  The gentleman handed me a business card for getting in touch with his uncle and wrote his uncle’s cell phone number on the back.  The front of the card was in Spanish and read: “MERCADO MI NUEVO MEXICO, TARJETAS TELEFONICAS, PRODUCTOS DE .99C, ABARROTES DULCES MEXICANOS, BOTAS, SOMBREROS Y MUCHO MAS.."  This new business sought to imitate the Latino culture of the neighborhood as James Rojas described in The Latino use of Urban Space in East Los Angles (Urban Latino Cultured, 1999: 131-138).  Bright colored goods spilled out to the sidewalk.  Mexican music called to the potential patrons.  

            One family is starting out to service a community that has been welcoming to a business catering to their culture.  Nasar and his nephew are optimistic about the future and feel secure in their decision to locate in this section of Phoenix, despite the many changes taking place.  Across the street another family does not feel welcome any longer.  The residents of the subdivisions that are closing in on the feed store do not like the smell of cows and horses.  If large animals are outlawed there would not be a need for a feed store.  Both of these business owners are looking at the same neighborhood in South Phoenix through different eyes, however both agree that this is just the beginning of the evolution of South Phoenix.