Photo by Lara Cooper/Daily News Cesar Vela (from left) and William Lopez, both of Bowling Green, chat over drinks while Horyando Murillo eats lunch at the restaurant at Mercadito Hispano, a Spanish market on Woodford Avenue.

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A month after Mercadito Hispano added a butcher shop to its grocery store, bakery, video and music operations, which include a restaurant and other products, its presence as a cultural nucleus in a predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood is growing.

Pablo Rivas, 19, an employee at the family-owned business, said the butcher shop was added in response to demand.

“There are no butcher shops here, so people were asking for it,” Rivas said.

Butcher Jorge Chavarria doesn't speak much English but said he likes to cut meat and cook it in a new 30-by-30 section in the back of the store.

Rivas said the Woodford Avenue store will offer meats better known to traditionally Spanish-speaking cultures, which have a different cut and aren't offered in most stores in Bowling Green.

The store priced the meat, some of which is imported, by comparing it to similar products found in Nashville, Rivas said.

The butcher shop is mostly busy on the weekends when people aren't working, he said.

Owner Gloria Escoto, who's had the business since 2001 with her husband, Jose, said she's glad to be able to offer more to customers.

“I'm happy because more people will come,” she said. “I care for my community.”

Being the neighborhood store also helps those who don't have transportation.

“Some people don't have cars or rides so it's easier to come here,” Escoto said. “People don't have time to go to Wal-Mart or Kmart.”

Escoto boasts health department inspection scores of 100s and 99s since she's owned Mercadito Hispano as a testament to her sound business practices.

“The grocery is growing and growing,” she said. “In the beginning we were small and then added little by little.”

Rivas' cousin, Enrique Menjivar, is one of the store's managers and is usually at the front counter, but was out sick last week.

Gustavo Obeso knows the impact of stores like Mercadito Hispano and Las Camaradas on Bowling Green's west side.

Obeso, a full-time Spanish instructor for Western Kentucky University, said the stores are known as “bodegas” to people from Central and South America, mainly Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras and El Salvador, or “tiendas” to people from South America.

The stores are usually family-operated in neighborhoods, he said.

“They're little Wal-Marts that sell basic stuff for the home. They eventually add more and more stuff,” Obeso said. “A tienda can be as big as a home.

“It's a place where you socialize. If you go to Mercadito Hispano and Las Camaradas you see people talking - some for hours.

“It's a business but at the same time, it's a society,” Obeso said. “They help and offer as much service as they can.”

Mercadito Hispano offers Western Union and other services that allow patrons to send money home to their families in other countries and buy special phone cards that allow them to stay in touch.

Rick Horn, director of Western's Small Business Development Center, said stores like Mercadito Hispano are successful by finding a niche market.

“They're providing all the things to the Spanish-speaking population that aren't available to the community in a reasonable distance,” Horn said. “They're trying to meet their total market demand, one niche at a time.”

Obeso said stores like Mercadito Hispano bring back nostalgia for those away from their home country with familiar products. People who are trying to stay in touch with their Spanish or Mexican heritage or learn more about it also find relief with such products.

“There, you can find products and produce you can't find at Wal-Mart or Kroger,” Obeso said.

Obeso, who is from Columbia, said his favorite beverage is a Pony Malta, which he can only find at the store.

“Of course it costs more, but I don't care,” Obeso said.

Horn equates the trend to department stores of long ago and McDonald's, both of which kept expanding from one thing to the next.

“(Mercadito Hispano) is reading their customers and seeing what the customer is asking for,” Horn said.

Horn said convenience stores are moving toward offering more in-house services typically run as separate entities, like dry-cleaners.

Horn said the only negative aspect to offering so much is that it may be labor intensive and may cause owners to be locked in to too much inventory.

“If you don't keep good records, you may spend more time and more floor space on something not bringing you any return on your investment. You'll be losing money,” Horn said.

Horn said it's important to evaluate all categories of a segmented business and find opportunities for better profits in the weaker parts.