A new Latin-American grocery store has opened up in Toronto, and is carrying a wide variety of over 700 products from Mexico, Columbia, Peru and Argentina.
At Tienda Movil, you can find a huge range of, tortillas, tamales, salsas, empanadas, tacos al pastor, birria, enchiladas, prepared foods and cheeses that you normally can't find in Toronto. Tienda Movil means 'Mobile Store' in Spanish, and Gabriela Flores––the owner of the shop––felt it was the right name for the store because of their added home delivery option through their online platform.
Flores and her son Joshua came to Canada in March 2009 from Mexico. Her first two jobs were packing nuts and donuts. Being a single mother she didn't have time to go to school to learn English, so every night after her son fell asleep, she slowly learned the language on her own.
When the pandemic started, she lost her job and schools closed which required her son to stay with her throughout the day. Flores also noted that her son has special needs, so finding appropriate care for him while she searched for a new job was another challenge she faced. With no jobs sticking out to her, Flores' mother prompted her to start delivering Mexican groceries after noticing the lack of variety in Toronto.
She started with one box of tortillas, one box of tostadas, and a few hibiscus flowers, and ended up selling everything in just a couple days. Flores would post her Mexican delivery items on 'Mexicanas en Toronto Oficial', an online group that connects the Mexican community in Toronto. Flores credits a lot of her early success and ongoing support to this group, which eventually resulted in her deciding to open up a storefront.
Currently with COVID-19, she has experienced some restrictions importing products into Canada, but she has been trying her best to offer her community the best variety as they would find back home. Flores shared that the pandemic has still been a great opportunity for her to create her business since it started online and is growing exponentially with her new store.
She says that her next steps include hiring individuals, specifically ones with disabilities, because she understands the obstacles associated with finding a job for this community.
Tienda Movil is located on 1237C Woodbine Avenue in East York. The shop offers online delivery from Tuesday through to Saturday with curbside pick-up and limited in-store shopping.
