South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce‘s “Shop the Island” initiative is back through Dec. 17. For every $20 spent with any Island businesses, shoppers may register for a $500 shopping spree. Every dollar spent locally also ensures a healthy and growing South Padre Island economy. Original receipts may be dropped off at the following SPI Chamber member businesses: Cactus Flower Calypso Friends of Animal Rescue Padre Island Brewing Co. Renee’s…
Gilbert Hernandez had 500 books and a $5,000 loan when taking his business from markets and pop-ups to a storefront in downtown Brownsville. It was the first days of January 2022. His new bookstore Buho now had a physical location in a historic downtown building that got its start in 1921 as a pharmacy on Washington Street. The 29-year-old Hernandez was out to prove a point. His research revealed that…
For the third consecutive year, Los Pinos Hardware is giving a portion of its October sales to the Renaissance Cancer Foundation in support of breast cancer awareness. Since their campaign’s inception, Los Pinos Hardware has raised over $30,000 for the Edinburg-based charity. The Renaissance Cancer Foundation is a non-profit organization who, since 2008, has provided financial assistance to underserved cancer patients in the Rio Grande Valley. “Once again we are…
David Salinas and his creative partners at 9INE 5IVE 6EIS grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of the 1990s. The touchstones of their RGV era included listening to B104 on the radio and shopping for groceries at Carl’s Supermarkets. The nostalgia connected to their youth is one reason for starting a merchandising company that celebrates the region’s culture and history. The 956 as in the region’s area code has…
The motto of a local hardware store speaks to its place in its community and the area around it. “Heart of a Working Town,” it says on a store window by an entrance of Express Hardware in Elsa. The store is located about a block away from the intersection on FM 88 and state Highway 107. It has become a crossroads corner for the communities that make up what’s known…
Alexandrea Peralta’s business is located across the street from an inner city park that needs an image boost. Putting her Jade Candle Co. shop across the street from a park in Harlingen some local residents avoid points to two of Peralta’s great passions. One is for candle making from scratch and creating products to the specifications of her customers. The other is love of her community and a commitment to…
La Plaza Mall invites area families to a Back-To-School Bash on Aug. 3, featuring a fashion show and backpack giveaways. The bash comes one week before the state’s Tax-Free Weekend Aug. 9-11. The Back-To-School Bash will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Grand Court. Radio United will offer giveaways every 30 minutes, with prizes including tablets and Simon gift cards. The first 400 children will receive a…
Isaac Smith felt more than the loss of business and the diminishment of revenues after a 2022 New Year’s Day fire burned his family’s 120,000-square-foot Matt’s Building Material store to the ground. “I still miss the old store,” Smith said recently, sitting in the new office of a shiny new 45,000-square-foot building where the original building sat for decades in Pharr. “I grew up in that store. It’s like losing…
Weslaco’s city leadership in recent years has honed in on a consistent message amid the community’s growth across several key economic sectors. The days of local residents having to go to McAllen to shop and dine are over, they say. “We don’t have to leave Weslaco anymore,” said Steven Valdez, the executive director of the Weslaco Economic Development Corporation. “We can stay home.” A business and commerce identity independent of…
Alisa Gonzalez and her husband Benjamin took their recent high school graduate to get settled at Texas A&M University last fall and made a poignant observation. College Station has fan stores a many featuring all sorts of A&M Aggies gear, be it t-shirts, caps, sweatshirts or bumper stickers. The Edinburg couple thought of their university back home. They knew it had nothing comparable to promote the Vaqueros of the University…