One Mercado For All

The canary yellow building may look like an ordinary Spanish mercado (food market) but inside, it holds a carnicería (meat market), panadería (bakery), clothing store and restaurant.    

Manager Selso Romero has been with Los Ranchos Plaza, in downtown Shakopee, since its opening three years ago.

The only large mercado in town, Los Ranchos represents a growing Latin community in Shakopee. Even the staff at the mercado is international, with employees coming from Peru, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

The store wasn’t quite bustling with patrons Wednesday afternoon, but Romero sees growth.

“Every time, more people come, and we’re still here,” he said while handling hunks of meat behind the glass counter.

Romero often acts as the manager of the meat counter as well as greeter to newcomers. 

“I talk to everyone,” he said. “Pretty much everyone knows me.”

Romero makes sure to let everyone visiting feel welcome inside the store, noting that the mercado isn’t just a one-stop shop for the Hispanic community.

“Our goal is to get everyone to come.”

Originally from El Salvador, the middle brother in a family of 11, Romero arrived in the United States when he was 18 years old. He said he's been working every day since the age of 7, beginning at his parent’s farm, where he picked beans, harvested corn and milked cows.

Though he earns better money in Shakopee than in El Salvador, he said it’s important to continue working seven days a week—he has an expanding family to feed. He's the father to two girls and a two-month-old son he calls "my little Selso Jr.” 

Though he’s only returned to his home country once since moving, Romero said he’s still close to his Salvadoran roots, and he sends money to his family in El Salvador every month.

“The only difference is here (in the United States), I make good money to support my family," he explained. "There, I make money to live but not to grow.”