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Thursday, January 3, 2008

Owner Fills Niche With Produce Stand

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
    Just before winter officially began, a new fresh produce market opened in Moriarty.
    Moriarty Fruits opened Dec. 3 on Old Route 66 at Yale Avenue.
    Owner Diego Lopez used to sell produce at the flea market in Albuquerque, but said he moved east of the Sandias because he said there were no produce stands in the area.
    Very early in the morning several times each week, Lopez visits Albuquerque produce stands to stock his store.
    Half of the edible items in the store come from growers in Torrance County, Belen, Santa Fe and Hatch, Lopez said.
    Lopez also gets potatoes from Colorado, avocados and tomatoes from Mexico, and oranges and apples from Washington and Florida.
    Although a banner on the main road advertises the store, to generate more interest Lopez sometimes stands in the median of Old Route 66 holding baskets of his produce and fruit. He has also passed out fliers to other area businesses.
    "So far business is picking up little by little," he said.
    If his market is profitable, Lopez plans to roast green chiles outside every morning next year. He even has plans to open another store in Crossley Park "to catch people" on N.M. 41.
    Counting his father, Carlos Lopez from Ciudad Juárez in Mexico, Lopez has two employees.
    "I'm open eight days a week," he told customers in the store on a bitter cold Dec. 27.
    Moriarty Fruits is actually open seven days a week, from "around 10 a.m. to about 5:30 or 6 p.m." every day, Lopez said.