Having merged, Cardenas looks to get bigger

Fresh off its merger with a Northern California supermarket chain, Cardenas Markets is looking to expand.

Although no sites have been selected, Ontario-based Cardenas expects to open a store in San Bernardino and Las Vegas within the next year, said Marco Robles, company spokesman.

Cardenas announced its merger with Mi Pueblo, which is headquartered in San Jose, last Thursday. Cardenas currently operates 31 stores, most of them in Riverside or San Bernardino counties, Robles said.

Its newest store opened last week in Calexico. About 160 people lined for the opening despite a heat wave that reached 120 degrees, Robles said.

Now, the popular Latino supermarket chain plans to up its store count.

“We’re looking to go out of state – Las Vegas – even though we already have four stores there,” Robles said. “We also have stores in San Bernardino, but it’s still a good market for us.”

The merger with Mi Pueblo is expected to create one of the largest Hispanic supermarket chains in the United States. The new corporation will operate as Cardenas Markets LLC, but it has not been decided if the Mi Pueblo stores will operate under the Cardenas name or retain the Mi Pueblo name,  Robles said.

Mi Pueblo was founded in 1991. It operates 15 stores in the San Francisco Bay area, Central Valley and Monterey Bay, according to the company’s website.

Cardenas was founded in 1981. Each of its stores employ upwards of 100 people, Robles said.