Mi Pueblo Supermarket
Mi Pueblo Supermarket is a Hispanic supermarket chain with locations at 3060 Pelham Parkway at Pelham Plaza, and 216 Green Springs Highway in Homewood. The store, founded by Joel Rivera in 2005, originally opened at 813 Green Springs Highway in Homewood.
Rivera, a contractor who had moved to Alabaster from Houston, Texas, became outraged at the prices charged for simple ingredients he wanted to prepare for his family. He noticed the building for rent and scheduled a viewing the next morning. Within a year he had opened a new business.
A second location followed in a 10,000 square foot space at 3010 Pelham Parkway. That store moved a short distance to a former Food World location nearby in 2013. The pattern repeated itself in Homewood with the original store moving to another former Food World in 2014.
The stores feature products familiar to Latin American countries, but also stock foods from the Caribbean, Africa and India. Special sections marked with national flags group together items familiar to specific countries. An in-store kitchen and bakery serves breakfast, lunch and supper dishes for eating in or carry out.
Joel's daughter Dulce Rivera graduated from Calera High School and the Brock School of Business at Samford University, while working in marketing at her parents' "La Jefa" radio stations. Her graduation in 2017 coincided with an opening in Mi Pueblo's bookkeeping department. She succeeded her father as CEO in 2017.
References
- Poe, Ryan (April 3, 2012) "Mi Pueblo leases Pelham Food World." Birmingham Business Journal
- Rodriguez, Ana (June 26, 2014) "Mi Pueblo Supermarket to open 44,000-square-foot store in Homewood at site of former Food World." The Birmingham News
- Posey, Sym (June 27, 2024) "Mi Pueblo Supermarket CEO Dulce Rivera Follows in Her Father’s Footsteps." The Birmingham Times