She arranges intricate bouquets of pink flowers and pours samples of wine at her stand, “Flores de Julia.” Lively mariachi music and the scent of freshly made tortillas fill the building. Around her, red, purple and green flags with cutouts of cactuses and sombreros decorate the large windows.
Julia Crowley is the only blonde, fair-skinned worker at Plaza Latina Supermarket. She is bilingual, but does not speak Spanish like the other employees.
“I use a lot of gestures to communicate with Spanish speakers,” said Crowley, who has worked at Plaza Latina since last September. “At first I was really nervous, but I learn as I go.”
Sam Recinos, the owner of Plaza Latina, said that his 11,000-square-foot building filled with Latin American goods is one of the largest stores in Oregon that caters to Latino people. But since Plaza Latina opened, a growing number of non-Latino customers have frequented the store that also hosts a Middle Eastern foods aisle.
This was Recinos and his wife Gisele’s intention – to create a welcoming cultural center in the West Jefferson neighborhood – when they opened Plaza Latina in December 2004.
The Recinoses know what it’s like to move to the United States from another country. Sam Recinos is from Guatemala and Gisele Recinos is from Lebanon. During the 1990s, when the couple first lived in Eugene, they could never find food from their home countries.
They left Eugene for a while before returning in 2002 to find more demand for something like Plaza Latina.
“We felt it was a need here,” Sam Recinos said. “Eugene is a good location because there’s so much culture and its people see other countries. The main intention was to create a feeling you are in Latin America. You walk in and get the feeling you are abroad.”
In the front corner of Plaza Latina, a stand displays Mexican sandals, soccer jerseys and balls and CDs recorded by Latino artists. The store hosts the individual markets found in Latin America in one central location, including a frutería (fruit store), carnicería (meat store), panadería (bakery), tortillería (homemade tortilla shop), taquería (taco and burrito restaurant), and tienda de piñatas (piñata shop). Gisele Recinos started a Middle Eastern foods aisle that Sam Recinos said is one of the largest around.
Employees from Latin American countries enjoy the ambiance in Plaza Latina and the support.
“It’s very authentic,” Edith Santoyo said. “You see many things from Mexico, and it’s so traditional. We Latinos don’t encounter this at other places. The people are excited to see the things here.”
Santoyo, who is from a town in central Mexico, has worked in Plaza Latina for almost two years. She maintains the produce section of the store and said most of it is imported to California from the central Caribbean and Mexico. Then it is shipped to Eugene.
After speaking with his wife to double check their grocery list, and ordering burritos with rice and beans at the taquería, Erubey Olveria and his son Alex, almost two, sit. Alex Olveria wakes up to eat his tacos and manages to smear beans all over his face. His dad chuckles.
Erubey Olveria, who moved from Mexico City to the United States and has lived in Washington, Corvallis and Eugene, has visited numerous Latin American food stores in the Northwest. He and his wife, Monica, come to shop at Plaza Latina once or twice a month.
“It’s one of the best here but different, still. Once you’ve lived in Mexico, it’s hard to find the food you want here, no matter what,” he said.
As a growing number of customers frequent the store, Plaza Latina sees more and more Middle Eastern students who appreciate the aisle Gisele Recinos created.
“Gisele’s here every day,” Crowley said. “She’s a mom role in the store and makes it feel like a family.”
Crowley may not be able to speak fluent Spanish yet, but she’s learning.
In the meantime, she’s able to cater to another group of customers.
“I was a military kid and grew up in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, so I speak Arabic with the Middle Eastern customers,” she said.
Plaza Latina Supermarket is located at 1333 W. 7th Ave.