Category Archives: Retail

The Incredible Hulk towers over the entrance of The Comic Cave Sunrise Mall. Walk into the store and it’s a visual delight of historic comic books mixed in with newer versions along with an array of collectibles, figurines and playing cards. Stroll through the aisles and discover how superheroes like Batman, Superman and Spider-Man have changed over the years in the comic books of different eras. Go to one corner…

Family Casts For Success With RGV Lures

June 1, 2022

In family photos, she is the proud little girl, standing by her father, the skillful fisherman. Diamond Hernandez beams in the photos, helping her Dad, Rick Martinez, hold up a big catch of fish bunched up at the end of a line. “I remember my dad winning contests and getting TVs,” Hernandez said of his dad’s prize-winning fishing. “I’d think, ‘I want to do that.’” The family that fishes together…

Raymondville Nursery Powered By Peppers

June 1, 2022

The South Texas Chile Co. is on a dual-track mission that sets it apart from other Rio Grande Valley nurseries. The first goal is to grow all the chiles, “from jalapeno to the wild chiles like chile de monte,” as the nursery’s website states. The Raymondville nursery does offer more standard plant choices such as cucumbers and beans, but it has set out to be the chile specialty nursery of…

Shop Sparks Good Vibes & Warm Welcomes

May 1, 2022

Driving down Jackson Street toward Commerce, parking spaces are sparse near the old intersection that’s a historic crossroads in downtown Harlingen. The MOFI Nutrition – Energy Bar has something to do with this new burst of energy near Jackson and Commerce. Walk into the business and you get a warm welcome with the music of a fitness gym beating behind the shortened wall of the MOFI’s front counter. Kaci Spikes-Kemp…

Veteran Finds Solitude & Freedom Via Fishing

April 1, 2022

Ruben Sanchez’s man cave doesn’t feature the usual bank of big screen televisions and pool tables, with a stuffed deer head or two mounted on the walls. For Sanchez, it’s “my sanctuary,” a place to retreat within himself to take away “a lot of my demons.” He is a Purple Heart recipient and former airborne paratrooper who uses his getaway to assemble handmade fishing rods in a converted garage of…

Mission Entrepreneur Drives To Success

April 1, 2022

Cassy Rodriguez had what she called “the best job ever” as a driver for pre-production Ford trucks displayed at car shows and big entertainment venues featuring stars and celebrities. The job paid well, too, but the Mission native was spending weeks at a time away from home. It was a huge sacrifice for the mother of three young children. The tours to promote a new F-150 model or a Ranger…

Firefighters Find New Life On Elizabeth Street

March 1, 2022

There likely has never been a store quite like Southernmost Wildlife Products in the long retailing history of Elizabeth Street in downtown Brownsville. Photographs of yesteryear on Brownsville’s historic main street show the classic department stores of Sears and JCPenney. Down Elizabeth from those mainstays are blocks of locally-owned men’s and women’s clothing stores, with the five-and-dime stores nearby. Those days on Elizabeth have vanished. The downtown of today does…

Finding Opportunities In The Pet Market

February 1, 2022

Samantha Mendoza has been busy baking after getting past a recent illness that temporarily sidelined her. It’s a Saturday morning and there will be a street market going up soon near West Van Buren in Harlingen. It’s a block over from The Ruff House, where Mendoza is sliding a tray full of freshly made dog snacks into a lighted display. They look inviting and are sure to light up any…

Hat Company Features Texas Flavor & Designs

February 1, 2022