Northgate Market History:

Northgate Market was found by the Gonzalez family. Miguel Gonzalez Jimenez Sr. and his wife, Teresa Reynoso de Gonzalez formerly owned a shoe store when they lived in Guadalajara, Mexico. However, in 1980 they took all the money they had and immigrated to the United States of America with their children. Once here they worked and saved for six months in order to be able to open up a small market in Anaheim, California. Thus Northgate Market was born. In the beginning, there were no wages, the family lived solely on what they made from their market. Over time though, through trial and error and learning along the way they saved enough to open a second store which did very well and the family business just grew from there. Today, there are more than fifty stores spread across southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and the business is still expanding!

Viva La Salud Program

Northgate Market does it's best to cater to many cultures, whether Latin American or not, and they noticed that their particular cultural food for Latin Americans was high in fat which in turn is contributing to higher rates of obesity and diabetes among Latin Americans. It was then that Northgate decided to try to help the problem. They noticed how other store chains highlighted their healthy products in their weekly ads to help promote them in stores and Northgate decided they wanted to do it as well. The company designed and implemented nine food labels that met federal nutrition guidelines in 2009; since then it has been broken down into twelve labels that better classify the products. All of the labels are fully bi-lingual in Spanish and English to promote the best understanding of the products. Northgate wanted to help educate their shoppers of the nutritional value of their food as they shopped, and they want to continue doing so and expanding their program as best they can.

Featured Healthy Recipe

Grilled Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 1 White Onion cut in half
• 1 Green Pepper
• 1 Red Pepper
• 2 Zucchini cut in half
• 2 cactus leaves
• 1 tbs liquid seasoning
• 1 tbs Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 tbs Soy Sauce
• 2 Lemons

Preparation:

• Grill all vegetables until golden. Cut them in cubes and mix them in a bowl with the sauces and the juice of the lemons.
• Serve on tostadas.

Northgate Financial

Northgate Financial changed its name to Prospera Gonzalez. Prospera Gonzalez like its own business within the Northgate Market business. Essentially it is a financial institution available to both customers and employees. Through Prospera Gonzalez, people can cash their checks, pay their bills, exchange their foreign currency, and make money transfers both foreign and domestic. They also offer other services such as: money orders, calling cards, insurance, personal loans, boost mobile, virgin mobile, and coin machines.

Location:

I live in El Cajon so the nearest Northgate Gonzalez Market to me is the University Avenue location we visited on our excursion. The address is 5403 University Ave San Diego, CA and according to Mapquest it is approximately fourteen miles away from my house. The store director is Robert Ascenio who actually talked to us about the history of Northgate Gonzalez Market and how it is to work their, and what they offer to employees and customers. The store hours are 6:00am- 10:30pm. And as best I can tell, their store slogan is "¡te da más!"

Weekly Ad:

A few of their products offered in their weekly ad are:

• Extra Large Avocados from Mexico- 5 for $5
• Chilean Nectarines- 2 lbs for $3.00
• Fresh Pork Spare Ribs $1.99 lb
• Russet Potatoes 10lb bag at $0.99 lb