 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Juvenal Chávez |
| Defunct | July 2017 |
| Fate | Merged withCardenas in 2017 |
| Headquarters | San Jose, California, U.S. |
Number of locations | 21 |
Area served | Northern California |
Key people | Founder Juvenal Chávez President and CEO Javier Ramírez |
| Products | Meat, produce, seafood, flowers, baked goods |
| Parent | Cardenas  |
| Website | mipueblofoods.com |
Mi Pueblo was a Northern California neighborhood grocery chain based inSan Jose, California.[1] It had a total of 21 store locations throughout theSan Francisco Bay Area,Central Valley andMonterey Bay Peninsula.[2] Mi Pueblo attempted to emulate the fresh-food markets ofMexico andLatin America while also carrying all the grocery items generally available in mainstream supermarkets.[3][4]
Mi Pueblo was established in 1991.[5] It was purchased byKohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2016, along withOntario, California–basedCardenas. The two chains merged in July 2017, and the Mi Pueblo brand was phased out the same year.[6]
Mi Pueblo was founded by Juvenal Chávez, who emigrated to theUnited States fromAguililla,Michoacán,Mexico in 1984. Only speakingSpanish at the time, Chávez took odd jobs while attending night school to learnEnglish. At one point, he worked as a janitor atStanford University.[7] In 1986, Chávezwent into business with his brother running Chavez Meat Market.[4] Five years later, deciding to go off on his own, Chávez purchased County Time Meats in San Jose, California, starting his mercantile chain.[4] In 1998, Chávez changed the name to "Mi Pueblo Food Center", and expanded into produce, bakery, and deli, and then grocery.[4][5]
While expanding intoFruitvale, the local merchants association protested the opening of a Mi Pueblo location, on the grounds that it would take business away from local small businesses.[8]
On July 22, 2013, Mi Pueblo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[9] Less than a year later on June 4, 2014, Mi Pueblo announced that they formally emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization after receiving $56 million in financing from Chicago- based investment firm Victory Park Capital (VPC).[10] As part of the restructuring, Javier Ramírez was appointed as president and CEO, succeeding Juvenal Chávez who was named chairman of the board.[10]
The chain was purchased in 2016 byKohlberg Kravis Roberts and merged withCardenas. The Mi Pueblo brand was phased out the following year.[6]
Mi Pueblo had seven different departments in the store, including meat, produce, bakery, taqueria,tortilleria, deli, and seafood.[5][4]
In October 2014, Mi Pueblo started offeringWestern Union services throughout all its stores in theSan Francisco Bay Area,Monterey Bay Peninsula andCentral Valley[11] to enhance existing customer needs such as check cashing, utility payments, money transfers and money orders.
In 2011, Mi Pueblo launched a scholarship program to "help students prepare for a brighter future".[citation needed] Three years later, Mi Pueblo, in collaboration with partners including theMexican Heritage Corporation andConsul General of Mexico, raised over $100,000 to provide legal representation to unaccompanied minors at theUS-Mexico border through its month- long campaignUnidos por los Niños.[12]
In September 2012, Mi Pueblo was criticized by labor organizations for enrolling inE-verify, aDepartment of Homeland Security program which screens employees for irregularities in their immigration status. As an owner, Juvenal Chávez was accused of hypocrisy since he started out in business as an illegal immigrant. A spokesperson for the business said that Chávez supported fixing the "broken" immigration system.[2]
Media related toMi Pueblo Food Center at Wikimedia Commons