Made at the Market
Jose Gonzalez begrudgingly began working at his family’s market as a ten year old in 2000. 24 years later, he is the co-owner of Mercadito Hispano, a hub for the Hispanic community to connect through authentic food in Bowling Green.
24 years after his parents bought the building that is now home to Mercadito Hispano, Jose Gonzalez proudly stands in front of the Hispanic market that he co-owns with his sister, Melissa. The Market is open Monday - Saturday, leaving Sunday for Jose and other workers to have downtime for rest and spending time with family. “[The day off] used to be Mondays and then we started doing Sundays. Nobody has Mondays off so we couldn’t go to birthday parties, we couldn’t do social gatherings or if we did, somebody would miss the next day,” Jose said.
For Jose Gonzalez, 34, Mercadito Hispano started as a place of simple transactions between cashier and customer for the sole purpose of making money for his family. 24 years later, it has morphed into something much larger, more complex and fulfilling to him.
The building that is now home to Mercadito Hispano was Allen’s Dry Cleaners until 2000, when Jose’s mother and step-father bought it and transformed it into a Hispanic market. Jose was ten years old at the time and knew very little Spanish but due to his mother’s factory job and his step-father splitting from the family, Jose was left to be the man of the market most afternoons.
The building that is now home to Mercadito Hispano was Allen’s Dry Cleaners until 2000, when Jose’s mother and step-father bought it and transformed it into a Hispanic market. Jose was ten years old at the time and knew very little Spanish but due to his mother’s factory job and his step-father splitting from the family, Jose was left to be the man of the market most afternoons.
Jose holds two photos of the building before and after its transition to Mercadito Hispano. Prior to Jose’s parents buying the building in 2000, it was Allen’s Dry Cleaning. “That’s where I would go get my bubblegum in the morning and then go to school,” Jose said.
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“My Spanish wasn't great at this time. This is why people would make fun of me for not talking too much, because to me it was just a transaction. It was flat transactional relationships. I don't want to build a relationship with these 35 year old construction workers triple my age. I shouldn't even talk to you. You're a stranger.”
The time spent alone at the market on those afternoons added to the alienation Jose felt as the only Latino student in his classes. Though his classmates worked to include him, he felt that he didn’t fit in with the cliques who all came from higher end schools together and attended the same churches. Jose believed this separation from other kids his age stunted his social growth and desire to interact with others.
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“Me, as a 12 year old experiencing that moment— friends are playing basketball or baseball or dodgeball; I don't know what kids do and I didn't participate in it.”
After a realization in his late 20s that the market was far more than the boring, mundane place that younger Jose had perceived, his mindset shifted and he worked to build up the market and to improve the community of international businesses throughout the city.
The crowded bakery bustles with movement as they prepare ham and cheese volovanes on a busy Saturday morning while Jose washes tomatoes for a batch of guacamole.
Rey Carmona, a baker, rolls out dough for fresh pastries on a Friday afternoon. “Pastry is an art. People don’t want just a sweet piece of dough. They want it to look pretty and appeal to them visually,” Jose said.
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“When we opened the store, I didn’t realize it while we were doing it, but as I grew, I realized people hang out here because they feel comfortable. This is like the mall for people who don't speak English.This is a place for them to show up and hang out, eat something, sit down, and catch up."
After Covid-19, that sense of community was lost so Jose aimed to connect these people in new ways. Through the years, he saw employees come and go from the market, and many of them took what they learned there and branched off to start their own businesses. Jose worked to connect those people and amplify their following through interaction on social media and vending at events to rebuild a connection their community once had.
Melissa Escoto, Jose’s sister and co-owner of the market, and Rey Carmona laugh in between moments of stress on a busy Saturday morning ahead of an event. Jose and Melissa both fill in where they are needed in the market’s day-to-day workflow, and Melissa uses her creativity to keep the pastry case new and exciting for customers.
Elis Guillen restocks the pastry case after chatting briefly with a customer on a Saturday morning. The pastries were the most popular items at the market because there are no other markets in the area that make authentic, fresh bread and pastries like these, according to Jose. Prior to several bakers working at Mercadito Hispano, they drove to Nashville and back daily during the week to pick up a baker who could do the work that their current bakers do.
Just as Mercadito Hispano has changed and grown over time, the ten year old kid who stood quietly at the cash register has seen friends, coworkers and customers come back to the market time and time again. Today, he remains at his spot behind the register ready to create connection and build community with every person who walks in the door.
A customer laughs while chatting with Jose at the cash register at the front of the store on a Saturday morning. Jose believed his experience working the register after school as a kid led him to grow into his own as he got older. “In terms of independence, that definitely set me on a course of being okay with working alone, because its was nerve-racking and my Spanish wasn't great,” Jose said.
Jose and his cousin, Edis Ernesto Guillen, who is the butcher at the market, laugh while talking about movies they like and dislike as they prepare guacamole for an afternoon event at a local bar. “He [Edis] doesn’t like running register, because he’s not very outgoing, he’s very introverted and he’s not very talkative. I told him, ‘you can cut all day, but if you can’t sell, what’s the point?’ That’s when I started taking him under my wing, and now he’s outgoing,” Jose said.
Chicharrones covered in guacamole are served at the Pre-Cinco Fest at White Squirrel Brewery on Saturday, April 27, 2024. They sold over half of the items they brought to the event two hours into the event.
At the end of the day, the market that made him still binds Jose and his community through authentic, fulfilling food and connection.
A customer tries chicharrones covered in guacamole at Pre-Cinco Fest. Jose vended pastries, chicharrones and tres leeches cakes from Mercadito Hispano at the event and shared his space with two other local Hispanic businesses who sold tacos and boba. “We’re not only providing nostalgia for our own culture. Even for White Americans, they have grandparents or even parents who have had this and probably did things like this,” Jose said.
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“Being there and really just experiencing the different decades and the progress that’s happened there with us and the community, there’s a lot of value to be extracted from that. I finally understand it’s not just a job."
A customer leaves Mercadito Hispano after purchasing from the butcher on a Thursday afternoon.
