Hispanic appeal fuels mall revival

It may look like a regular mall from the outside, but La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth just might be the Hispanic communityÂ’s answer to Little Italy or Chinatown.

Inside the seemingly ordinary, suburban building are more than 160

businesses – most Hispanic-owned – offering a range of products and services, from quinceañera dresses to real estate to tacos and music.

The mall itself is nothing less than a lesson in success, said marketing director Jose Arellano.

“La Gran Plaza has become an economic engine for South Fort Worth,” he said. “It has become a community and cultural place because of what we offer on a weekly basis.”

Grupo Zocalo, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Boxer Property Management Corp., purchased the troubled Fort Worth Town Center in 2003 when that mallÂ’s future looked grim: Occupancy had dipped to just 20 percent and all the anchor stores had departed.

“When the anchor stores leave a mall, you have to demolish the property,” Arellano said. “No mall has survived when Sears or JCPenney leaves the

building.”

But in just three whirlwind years, Grupo Zocalo has turned the once nearly-defunct mall around, reaching an 85 percent lease level and rejuvenating interest in the surrounding area. Burlington Coat Factory is set to open its store in the first quarter of 2008 and Arellano said the mall is in negotiations with another national retailer about joining the Gran Plaza, but declined to disclose its name.

Where DillardÂ’s once stood, La Gran Plaza created the Mercado, a market-style area where entrepreneurs can start their own businesses in areas renting for as little as $350 per month.

The mallÂ’s owner-friendly template has provided many Fort Worth residents, such as Ramiro Ramirez, an opportunity to succeed.

Ramirez emigrated from Mexico City in 1995, attended college at Southern Methodist University and, in April 2006, opened his first business, Salsa Limon, which stemmed from his love for real, Mexican tacos.

La Gran Plaza was the perfect location for Ramirez to begin, he said, because it is a “strong player for the community.”

“We were in the black a month and a half after we opened,” he said. “ I think it has a lot to do with traffic and the concept – it met at a good place, I guess.”

Business has been so good, in fact, that Ramirez said heÂ’s already looking for location No. 2 near Berry and Hemphill streets.

People like Ramirez help shine a positive light on a community frequently plagued by a controversial debate, Arellano said.

“When we talk about Hispanics, normally the words that come attached to it are ‘illegal immigration,’” he said, “and sometimes we forget about the contributions of the Hispanic community.”

Hispanics in the Dallas/Fort Worth area account for about $20 billion in yearly buying power, according to a July study by Dallas-based research firm Rincon & Associates. That number will continue to grow at a tremendous rate as the Hispanic population increases, said Edward Rincon, the firmÂ’s president.

Rincon estimates there are about 55,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in the Metroplex, many started by entrepreneurs such as Ramirez.

“That’s healthy to any economy of any metropolitan area because they’re the ones who oftentimes take the risks, introduce new products and new services and really are the innovators,” he said.

All of this progress should alter the U.S. business worldÂ’s perception of the Hispanic community, Arellano said.

“If you see the Hispanic community as a potential, you’re late,” he said. “The Hispanic community is an economic reality … It’s not something that will come, it’s already here.”

In the near future, La Gran Plaza will begin construction on its Lienzo Charro – a covered arena to hold 5,500 people – to stage no less than 60 events a year, Arellano said. Arellano isn’t shy about predicting the future of the entire complex once the addition is complete.

“We are probably going to be the most important entertainment venue for the Hispanic community, not only in Fort Worth, but for the entire Metroplex,” he said.

Contact Tronche at jtronche@bizpress.net