California Latino Grocery Chain Opens First Arizona Location

The Latino grocery store chain Vallarta Supermarkets this week expanded beyond California for the first time.

The grocer opened a new location Jan. 14 in Glendale, Arizona. The store, which was announced in October, sits at 5836 W. Camelback Road and spans more than 49K SF.

Vallarta, a family-owned company, has some 60 grocery stores in California.

The opening in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix in Maricopa County, meets a demand for Latino food in the area and will use many products specific to the desert region, Vallarta Marketing Director Lizette Gomez said.  

It will also bring approximately 200 jobs to the city, she said.

Vallarta opened seven new locations last year in California and upgraded the shopping experience at its other sites. The store has gained a following, in part, because of its in-house, made-to-order food stations, including a tortillería, cremería, dulcería and panadería, Gomez said.

“We're consistently listening to our customers and creating stores that feel more like cultural hubs rather than a traditional supermarket,” she said. 

The grocer expects to open 10 to 15 locations in Arizona within the next decade, she said.

“We're focusing on entering aligned markets and creating a strong presence with the community,” Gomez said. “That ... will continue to be the basis of our expansion plans.”

Ethnic food sales are poised to claim a larger market share in the U.S. in the coming years, according to a market report by Blue Book, a grocery industry data provider. A market analysis found that annual sales of ethnic food will grow from $24.8B in 2023 to $46.7B by 2032, according to the October 2025 report.  

In 2025, there were more than 16,000 ethnic supermarkets and grocers across the U.S., according to Blue Book.