New grocery store opening on the east side: ‘We cater to everyone’

Just a few months after opening its first two Wichita stores, Mi Super Mercado Baratisimo is now working on a third.

Unlike its first two stores, which replaced existing El Rio Bravo Supermarkets, the new Super Mercado will be opening in a former hardware store on the northeast corner of Harry and Woodlawn.

“A lot of customers have asked us for a store in that area,” said COO Guillermo Washington.

The other two stores are at 21st and Amidon and Pawnee and Seneca.

Although the markets specialize in Hispanic food, Washington said, “We cater to everyone.”

There are full-service meat counters, which Washington said is a big selling point for the stores.

“We can cut anything you want the way you want it.”

There are bakeries with breads and sweets made every few hours, and there are grab-and-go items such as 99-cent tacos.

“Everything is freshly made,” Washington said. “It’s like going to Mexico.”

Other cooked dishes include rice, bean, tamales, chili rellenos and a variety of grilled meat.

“You don’t have to cook,” Washington said. “You can just go and pick up a new dish every day.”

He said the markets also cater to Vietnamese shoppers with special fruits, vegetables and Vietnamese sauces.

“We found that they love the store,” Washington said.

He and CEO Salah Nafal are based in Oklahoma City and both have extensive experience with Mexican markets. They started the Super Mercado chain with the two existing Wichita stores. Along with the third store here, they’re planning two in Oklahoma as well.

In addition to modernizing the first two stores, Washington said they’re now remodeling the former Locke Supply space where the new store will open sometime this summer, depending on how quickly construction can happen.

“We’re going to continue to open more stores every year,” Washington said.

All Super Mercados will focus on low prices, he said.

“We believe that people work very hard, and they deserve the best prices.”