Bicycle enthusiasts gather on weekend mornings at a coffee shop before taking off on a group ride. While sipping one of many coffee drinks on the menu, they can pick up parts for their bikes or get a little maintenance done. That’s what sets 7th and Park apart from most coffee or bicycle shops. “I always wanted to own my own business but the ideas kept changing,” said Graham Sevier-Schultz,…
The spark of an idea to start a business can come from anywhere. It can be an example someone has demonstrated in inspiring budding entrepreneurs to set off on their own, or turning a passion and love of a hobby into a business. The seed of a business may even come from a dream. Rosie Castillo dreamt of bright angels fluttering all around her, with one brighter than the others.…
Gordon’s Bait & Tackle in Brownsville has gone through one expansion after another over the years, following a family tradition that has converted the business into more than just a place for anglers to buy supplies before they head on fishing trips to the bay, area canals and the beach. The family owned and operated business on Highway 48, also known as Padre Island Highway, is a one-stop shop selling…
After managing 16 school kitchens in North Texas as a nutritionist, Rio Grande Valley native Veronica Barrera-Cuellar returned home with a dream of attending pastry school. She ended up selling chocolate. “I love pastry and I wanted to go to pastry school, but life happens,” she said. Needing to find a livelihood, she teamed up with her sister Patricia and began looking into franchise opportunities to start their own business.…
It started as “a hobby business,” a vehicle for a husband-and-wife team of physical therapists to promote their passion for fitness. The vision that began in 2011 for Jun and Edith Ellorimo to get people “walking and running” is today a Footworks Start To Finish store with a wide community reach to go with a growing network of runners and cyclists. “It has gone beyond what we envisioned,” Jun said…
Market reopens in two days Workers are racing to complete a shade structure before Saturday’s reopening of the Harlingen Farmers Market at its new location at First Street and Tyler Avenue next to City Hall. “We will have shade for 20 vendors,” market manager Kate McSwain said. “We have 32 vendors lined up right now. That’s a big increase over last year. I’m very excited.” The market will be open…
Sandy Pena’s love for downtown Weslaco runs deep and reaches back to her childhood when she and her cousins used to play summertime hide-and-seek in the adjoining buildings owned by her father and aunt. “It was our playground,’’ Pena said. “It’s where we grew up.’’ Those days of frolic are long behind her, and Pena today owns and runs the downtown store her father, Lionel Oliveira, started almost 60 years ago and still…
When Marlen Saenz began selling picture frames at a local flea market 12 years ago, she never dreamed her little business would grow to where it is now after receiving a $1.3-million SBA 504 Real Estate & Equipment Loan. At the U.S. Small Business Administration, we know business success can be achieved with the right tools. And Saenz is just one of the 54,773 reasons the Rio Grande Valley has…
The store is clean and modern. At the same time, it stands as a testament to an era when the local hardware store stood as a community fixture. Borderland Hardware in Mercedes is among only a handful of locally owned, old-fashioned hardware stores left in the Rio Grande Valley. Owners Bob Eilers, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday; his wife of 67 years, Loretta; and son Ken and wife Debbie,…
Moreno’s adapts to modern pet ownership A love of animals and their care keeps Leroy Moreno coming to work every morning with a smile on his face. The enthusiasm he has for his business, Moreno’s Feed and Pet Store in Weslaco, is contagious as he talks about his passion for animal husbandry. One of six children growing up on a farm north of Donna, Moreno remembers his father, Gus Moreno,…