Family Businesses

Latina-owned Family Businesses

by Talia Rodriguez

There are two types of people in this world. For one type, a taco, means, “I love you.” And that’s what “Mexico City” proprietor Elder Martinez says to WNY. According to experts, “the Mexican American restaurant industry market size is projected to grow over the next five years”.

Unique, Elder’s Mexico City brand is deliberately curated with ambassadorship of Mexico’s dietary and cultural experience in mind, folding sensory education within corporate delivery.

When you go to Mexico City you will learn something or have an experience rooted in Elder’s ancestral home. One of the amazing parts of being an American restaurateur is the ability to express your values and history in a menu. Elder’s done that beautifully. Bringing the right amount of social media promotion, relentless self-evaluation, and “Vive Mexico” to the table. As a rural female entrepreneur, WNY is full of opportunity.

Business owners like Elder are uniquely positioned, they can compete. Accordingly “market share concentration for the Mexican Restaurants industry in the US is low, which means the top four companies generate less than 40% of industry revenue”. Consequently family businesses hold higher importance in this industry than others. Elder’s votes both as a citizen and as a business owner in the products she loves, tools she uses, and literal candidates she selects have great impact and are amplified on social media.

Latina-owned family businesses drive content and economy. While Latinas have been showing up in big ways in commercial spaces for some that means doubally leadership in the civic spaces especially as our community population grows. Consumerism within the Latino culture is distinct. And marketers, pollsters, and economists must inquire: How do Latinas define corporate citizenship? We must also seek so know introspectively: How do our identities inform how we show up as customers and investors?

Something is different when you bet the barn on it, or whatever that means for your family. Elder and her colleagues are all in. The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship’s “Women’s Small Business Ownership and Entrepreneurship Report” found that “74 percent of women-owned firms relied on funds from personal savings, friends, or family over the past five years of their business operations versus 64 percent of male-owned businesses.”

Women like Elder believe in the American dream and fuel that belief with hard work. And Latinas, statisticians have found, are more likely than Latino men to say they have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party (50% vs. 40%).

And as long as we are talkin’ votes, I’d like to cast my vote for Tacos and all those who love them. I want to add that Elder makes Halal Lamb Birria because our new economy is inclusive and during Bills season, Taco Tuesday is real, like really real. Check out Mexico City today or tomorrow but don’t miss out on experiencing a love story between cuisine and hospitality.

Oh and make sure you follow them on ig@mexicocity716 so you don’t miss any new menu items.

Talia Rodriguez is a bi-racial, bi-cultural, and bi-lingual Latina from Buffalo. Ms. Rodriguez’s mission is to write about Latina’s, who have shaped the face of our city and our region. It is Ms. Rodriguez’s believes that our own people should inspire us and in telling our collective stories, we push our community forward. Ms. Rodriguez is a community advocate and organizer. She is a 5th generation West Sider, a graduate of SUNY Buffalo Law School, and an avid baseball fan. She lives on the West Side with her young son A.J… Ms. Rodriguez sits on the board of several organizations including the Belle Center, where she attended daycare. Ms. Rodriguez loves art, music, food, and her neighbors. Connect with her by email at talia.rodriguez.716@gmail.com