By Jill Fennema –

This week Saturday, a new store will open on Edgerton’s Main Street. Eric Nieves and his wife, Jessica Rodriguez, and their family, will be working at the store. They plan to call it Yojoa Latin Market.

The name comes from the Mayan word for lake or pond. Eric is originally from Honduras and he grew up near Lake Yojoa. His family ate a lot of fresh fish from that lake. His father used to own a grocery store in Honduras and Eric worked for him when he was young.

The market, which will be located at 801 Main Street in the former Brummel’s Sewing and Shoes building, will carry dry and canned goods that cater to the needs of the Hispanic culture – including dried and canned beans, rice, tortillas, tamales, corn flour, and so on.

“We will carry different things than a typical grocery store,” Eric explained.

They plan to open on Saturday, Dec. 11, and will be open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Eric said the reason they decided to open the store was because they have seen that there is a growing Hispanic population in the area. They moved to Edgerton in 2009; it was in 2016 that Eric started seeing that there were more Hispanic people living in town and he has taken time to get to know them and their needs.

In addition to groceries, Yojoa Latin Market will offer other convenience services. If someone needs to wire money back home to their family in Guatemala or Honduras (or anywhere) they will be able to do that from this store. They can also help people pay bills at their home country as well.

Eric explained that many people who immigrate here are still working to support their families back home. They need to be able to send money home and wire transfer is the way to do that. Typically, they have had to travel to Sioux Falls to do that; in the winter bad roads can be a problem. Eric himself has slid in the ditch a few times when going to Sioux Falls. He wants to help others avoid that. He also explained that while people in these poorer Hispanic countries do have access to mobile phones, the service plans are very expensive. He will be able to help his customers buy minutes for their families in their country of origin.

Eric works full time for Raven Industries, but he works the evening shift. He plans to use up some vacation and flex time so that he can work in the store more hours, especially in the beginning.

Jessica will also be working at the store, along with their son, Alex, who graduated from high school last year. Their daughter Fey will also help out some, but she is currently studying for her Master’s Degree in social work. The couple’s youngest son, Luis, is a junior at Southwest MN Christian High School, and he will work after school and on Saturday.