WESLACO, Texas - Weslaco’s restaurants are being frequented much more often than might be expected.
In fact, pro rata, some national franchise eateries in the city are among the busiest in the whole United States.
One explanation could be that there are not enough restaurants in the city, forcing local residents to visit them over and over again. Another possibility is that Weslaco is pulling in a lot of customers from neighboring communities. A third reason? Maybe the people of Weslaco eat more.
The possibilities were discussed during a recent bus tour of Weslaco by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership. The Valley’s regional chamber of commerce organizes a trip to a different Valley city each month. Those attending the Commercial and Investment Tours include realtors, developers and economic development leaders.
Craig GaransuayPrior to the bus tour, the City of Weslaco and Weslaco Economic Development Corporation hosted panel discussions. The expert that discussed the local restaurant scene was Craig Garansuay, of the brokerage firm Corporate Asset Partners.
“Weslaco works because it is a real city,” Garansuay said. “There is a medical community, you have residential growth, you’ve got airports, education, high schools, college, trade.”
Garansuay said Weslaco has “all of the ingredients” needed to build a thriving community.
“Retail follows the rooftops, industrial brings the rooftops. And so you have got the culmination of all those ingredients coming together to create a hub for the Mid-Valley.”
Garansuay said his firm looks closely at the sales of restaurants and retail outlets.
“We have really dug into what the retailers were doing in Weslaco. And on a categorical basis, the sales that the restaurants are producing and the retailers are anywhere from 30 to 40 percent above the market average.”
San Antonio-based Garansuay said he started to “dig in” to try to understand why Weslaco’s restaurants are doing so well.
“If you look on the average for the burger groups, their market average, Weslaco is about 35 percent above those same stores are doing on a market average. If you look at the chicken guys, it is about 34 percent above what the market average is. Sit down restaurants, 40 percent,” he said.
By way of an example, Garansuay looked at the number of people that visit restaurants in neighboring Pharr. Pharr is a bigger city than Weslaco, but Weslaco’s restaurants are doing just as much business.
Garansuay said 82,000 people live within a three mile radius of Pharr and their average income is about $62,000. If you increase the radius to five miles, he said, there is a population of 225,000 people.
“You do the same thing in Weslaco. Three miles, you get about 62,000 people. Five miles you get about 107,000 people. And so Weslaco is able to produce greater volumes, with 32 percent less people in three miles and 110 percent less people in five miles,” Garansuay said.
“And so what that tells me is there a lack of categories. People are revisiting the same places over and over and over. The No. 1 Dairy Queen in the entire country is located in Weslaco, Texas. They are about to do a second one, I think.”
These and other reasons explain why Weslaco is a great place to invest, Garansuay said.
“So, there are a lot of great reasons why Weslaco is experiencing the growth that it is. The community has been underserved. The retailers are telling us that there are a lot of hungry people here. I think Weslaco now is being put on the map because of the success from the national franchise tenants that have come in and demonstrated that there is a market here and that you could substantiate a business. That success begets success and Weslaco will be the beneficiary of new retail.”
Editor’s Note: Listen to the podcast below to hear about the business Corporate Asset Partners does in the Rio Grande Valley, along with Graig Garansuay’s analysis of why Weslaco works. Weslaco EDC Executive Director Steve Valdez also appears on the podcast, discussing his city’s Olive Garden restaurant.
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