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The Monitor
http://www.themonitor.com/
Close to Home -- Many Nuevo Progreso shoppers are Valley natives
April 05, 2004
Travis M. Whitehead
The Monitor
NUEVO PROGRESO — Although many Winter Texans will soon return home,
the shopkeepers who make their living here from the tourism industry will
still do a brisk business.
That’s because many of Nuevo Progreso’s customers here come,
not from other parts of the country — or even the state —
but from right across the border. A study conducted by a group of marketing
students at the University of Texas-Pan American in late October found
that more than half of Nuevo Progreso’s shoppers were Hispanics
who make at least $30,000 a year. The study was done before the bulk of
Winter Texans had arrived.
"It was a surprise to me how many local people came over to use the
dentists, doctors and the pharmacies, and just as a good place to go,"
said Bill Thompson, the marketing professor who directed and analyzed
the survey.
Another group of students did a similar study in January to survey the
Winter Texan population there and to compare those results with the October
report. Results for the January study will be ready in about 10 days,
but the October report revealed some surprising results.
Thompson said 649 people were interviewed in late October. Most of those
interviewed were from Texas. Of those, 52 percent called the Valley their
home.
"I would say two-thirds said they made more than $30,000 a year,"
he said. "They are middle and upper classes. I had thought if they
were local they were poor, but not necessarily. I guess the poor people
can’t afford to go to Mexico, or they don’t have the legal
documents to go back and forth."
Chambers of commerce in the Rio Grande Valley commissioned the Nuevo Progreso
study because the business there strongly impacts the economy of communities
north of the border, said Martha Noell, president and CEO of the Weslaco
Chamber of Commerce.
"Nuevo Progreso is part of our marketing area," Noell said.
"One of the things people like to do when they visit the Rio Grande
Valley is go to Old Mexico. They don’t go to Reynosa and Matamoros;
the main tourism visiting point is Nuevo Progreso because of the ease
of crossing, friendliness. Nuevo Progreso caters to tourists."
On Wednesday morning, tourists crowded the marketplace, serenaded by Freddie
Fender music pouring into the streets as the visitors moved in and out
of the "Almost Free Pharmacy," shopping for Zenical, Prevacid
and other medications. Right beyond that store, a woman sold tacos for
60 cents, filling hot tortillas with meat, cilantro, onion, tomato and
avocado. Sidewalk vendors hawked gold and silver jewelry, tablecloths,
women’s hats, tote bags and beaded pouches.
Viola Cox, 66, had just picked up some perfume. She and her husband, Herman,
67, used to live in Kansas City, Kan., But two years ago, after spending
several Winter Texan seasons in the Valley, they decided to settle there
permanently.
"I’m just browsing now," Cox said. "We come every
couple of months. My husband is getting his teeth cleaned."
Why did they come to Nuevo Progreso for that?
"It’s cheaper," she said. "He’s had a crown
made."
They wouldn’t come if they didn’t feel safe.
"We’ve never had any problems," she said.
That’s one of the main reasons Nuevo Progreso is so popular. Thompson
said surveyors asked participants to grade the marketplace on various
factors. They gave them a B-plus for security and an A on friendliness.
"They feel safe and liked," Thompson said. "They go in
for liquor, food, shopping, pharmacies. They go in and out without hassle.
People are hassled more in Matamoros and Reynosa. At Nuevo Progreso, they
have a hands-off attitude. They won’t mess with tourists unless
they are very rowdy."
At El Disco Super Center, a huge store, visitors shopped for leather sandals,
wind chimes, cotton embroidered dresses, chess sets, cassette tapes and
numerous other items.
"What I do so people will come to Progreso is make people feel safe,
feel important, and we pay attention to every single customer," said
Francisco Pulido, general director of the store where he has done business
for 25 years.
Pulido says El Disco sells merchandise from all over Mexico at much cheaper
prices than people would find anywhere else.
"We have tourist police officers who are bilingual," Pulido
said. "They speak English, in case a customer gets lost and needs
help. They are there for the security. We also have a center where people
can get a paper and find out what specials we have in the different stores."
Elias Anzaldua only paid $150 to replace his upper dentures, "and
they worked on my lower dentures too," he said.
Anzaldua, 69, and his wife, Viola, travel each year to the Rio Grande
Valley from their home in Muleshoe, west of Lubbock. They visit friends
and relatives and attend the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show in Mercedes.
"We were born and raised there," said Elias Anzaldua.
They left 47 years ago. In Muleshoe, they own a tortilla factory and Elias
Anzaldua manages a radio station. But they still make it to the Valley
every year, and they always hit the Nuevo Progreso marketplace.
"I got some tablecloths, some jewelry, and medicine," said Viola
Anzaldua. "And some vases."
Perhaps the great shopping, friendly service and security are reasons
visitors traveling to Nuevo Progreso feel no need to go further. Thompson
said most people traveling to this festive marketplace don’t go
any deeper into Mexico.
"They go there and they turn around and come out," Thompson
said. "There are a million cars a year going across, and 98.5 percent
said they would come back. The rest were probably people coming from other
countries that probably won’t ever be back to this area."
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Travis M. Whitehead covers Starr County, Mission, law enforcement and
general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4452.
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