By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

PELHAM – Mi Pueblo Supermarket, a Hispanic supermarket and cultural landmark, is celebrating a historic milestone in 2025.

The supermarket is celebrating its 20th anniversary, having been founded by Joel Rivera in 2005. Dulce Rivera, Joel’s daughter and the current CEO of Mi Pueblo, further explained the origins of Mi Pueblo.

“My dad has always been very entrepreneurial,” Dulce said. “He’s had many businesses in his lifetime. He loves to cook, he loves to feed people, so (20 years ago) he went to a local grocery store and found some items to make a special dish… he started realizing that there wasn’t a big enough grocery store in town to serve the needs of the growing Hispanic population.”

Dulce described that the store has rapidly evolved since it first opened, saying that the store initially only carried products familiar to the Mexican community before expanding its offerings.

“We quickly saw a need for diverse items primarily of Central America,” Dulce said. “El Salvadorian products, Guatemalan products and then it slowly kept growing to other countries in Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.”

The expanded offerings, according to Dulce, helped transform Mi Pueblo into a multicultural grocery store that reflects a variety of nations and backgrounds.

Dulce expressed that while Mi Pueblo has found great success in both its Pelham and Green Springs Highway locations, the business’s rise did not come without challenge.

“Politically, we’ve always been a target,” Dulce said. “In 2011, one of the biggest challenges and hurdles (to our business) was (Alabama) HB56.”

Alabama HB6, titled the “Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act,” is an anti-illegal immigration bill. The bill aimed to restrict the presence, employment and benefits of undocumented immigrants in the state, with key provisions including requiring schools to verify the immigration status of students, making it a crime for undocumented immigrants to apply for jobs or enter into contracts and allowing law enforcement to detain individuals suspected of being undocumented.

Despite the challenges presented by the law, Dulce is thankful that Mi Pueblo has stood strong amidst waves of adversity and continues to be a pillar in the Hispanic community.

“We’ve embedded ourselves in the communities where we serve, not just towards a specific group of people,” Dulce said. “We like to cater to all of those that come into our doors. We support a lot of different nonprofits, charities and churches across the board regardless of ethnic or socioeconomic backgrounds. What we love to do is see our communities thrive.”

Dulce added that Mi Pueblo is committed to promoting health and wellness in the communities it serves, while noting that being a community pillar also involves getting support back from its customers.

“(The support we receive) means the world,” Dulce said. “(Customers) understand that we are giving back locally to our communities, whether it’s sponsoring a baseball team or a local event. We do see that we are a strong community center.”

Mi Pueblo celebrated its 20th anniversary with a formal celebration on Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4, with Pelham city officials attending in support of the supermarket. Mi Pueblo gave away tacos, raffles and did a cake cutting at the event.

“As a small business, it’s definitely a milestone,” Dulce said. “It’s been a journey, and we hope to continue our work here…Hopefully in the next 20 years we’ll expand beyond just our state and be able to service more growing communities.”

For more information on Mi Pueblo Supermarket, visit Mipueblosupermarket.com.