Pancho's Plan

True, but give him time! He just opened and still isn’t fully stocked yet.

His other big disadvantage is walk-in traffic. Superlake gets a tremendous amount of walk-ins, who come down the hill from BOP and other fraccs along the Libramiento and El Dorado and El Parque, as well as, the many little condo complexes in lower SAT.
I see people crossing the Carretera all day long on foot carrying their shopping bags headed for SL Those folks don't want to drive and they won't be walking to the east end of Riberas del Pilar,
I think a new store is opening up on Rio Zula in Rancho del Oro that is going to copycat Pancho/SL, for people that don't want to drive through Ajijic.

That's fine, competition is good. Every time I go to the new store there are plenty of customers. All are jovial and buying. The employees and atmosphere are upbeat. The surprising demographic I've seen lately are young hip Mexicans! Some are happily having coffee and snacking in the restaurant part and some are leaving and walking in the direction of Chapala. They seem to be young couples on an outing from Chapala and enjoying themselves.

The tapatíos will return as they find out about it, though probably not in the numbers seen at SL. The carless SAT condo dwellers may never get there. About 90% of the foreigners I see are unfamiliar faces and have that confused look of newbies in a hurry and and a better wardrobe than we tend to have.

Prices at Pancho's are way better than SL. It's astounding, actually. The last artichoke I bought at SL 2 weeks ago was a jaw-dropping 78 pesos, up overnight from 35 pesos. Last week there were 3 little old measly ones and just for fun I took them to the cashier for a price check - 72 pesos cada uno. Both the cashier and I rolled our eyes and I returned them from whence they came. Currently, Pancho and the lady in front of Paz Liquors are selling big, fresh green, globe chokes for - buh dump bump . . . 30 pesos cada uno!

Yep. I'm one of the jovial ones......why not?  I can drive there and there is plenty of parking........

.....y no como alcachofas......

¿¿¿Por qué??? ¿No te gustas? ¡Te lo estás perdiendo!

Being carless is not an impediment for me to get to Pancho's store. I just take the bus there and back. Easy!

Need help on Pancho's street address.
Thanks a bunch.
LLiving.

Upscale Retail is at Hidalgo 75 and Pancho’s is a few doors east of there.

Yeah. Or a few doors east of Maskaras Clinic.

Or if you don't know either location, it's another block east of the Telecable or Izzi office

Thank you all for chipping in your help.
Great group.
Hope to go there to see if prices are "softer" than SL.
Have a good night.
LLiving

LLiving wrote:Thank you all for chipping in your help.
Great group.
Hope to go there to see if prices are "softer" than SL.
Have a good night.
LLiving

Please let us know what you discover.

Trailrunner wrote:

¿¿¿Por qué??? ¿No te gustas? ¡Te lo estás perdiendo!

Solamente por mi mente.....

MexicoPete wrote:Or if you don't know either location, it's another block east of the Telecable or Izzi office

Which is just next door west of Cuca's vivero...........   .......quizas!!!.....

I went to check out Pancho this morning. I know it is early Monday, but I had no problem parking. There is also plenty of parking in the large empty lñot next door. I did what one suggested, and left my cart at the end g the isle.......no problem.

Pancho has made shopping a refreshing and almost exciting experience.
The seating area is a real plus.

We are lucky to have a store like that here.

I do not know about prices since my wife does the shopping but I am sure they have to be pretty well in line.

We have been a couple times. Until I hear that his stock is a s deep as the former SuperLake we probably won't bother and will use his Ajijic location for quick stuff. There is probably 6 kinds of canadian maple syrup but no commercial product like Mrs. Butterworth. I cook with real but husband wants what he wants for the pcakes. Also, dozens of flavors and bottles of oils - hundreds of oil types. Really everyone needs a bazillion kinds of oil. Now you do need a bazillion kinds of salad dressing. Small selections, limited selections, over stocking on some things. Too many people standing around chatting - in front of the freezers, by the hot steam tables, by the coffee bar, in front of the fruits. Vendors maybe? Anyway we will do what we can to make it work for him. And what is this about Rio Zula?

There is nothing in there that is worth going out of the way and fight traffic.

Interesting that retired individuals who may have little or nothing to do complain about traffic... Stop and go gives one time to enjoy the ride... Life is tooooo short to get hung up on traffic... As Wayne Dyer said back in the 80s "The traffic doesn't care"...

yes I rather go for long walks than sit in a car.. also some retire people have a full life and have other things to do than sit in traffic. If I wanted to sit in traffic I would have stayed in the San Francisco Bay area.. If I have to be in traffic I ll do it but not for a jar of mustard or some cereals..

Yes. What Brigitte said! So many better things to do than sit in traffic. I avoid that Ajijic scene at all costs and will do anything to not have to make a left instead of a right when exiting San Antonio.

Ajijic scene???? Been to Chapala lately anytime during the early morning, late afternoon or weekend?? Makes Ajijic seem like a ghost town.

and unless you park at the malecon have you tried to park there.. it is a total zoo as well..

Even the malecon parking is packed there. I get a good laugh when Chapala peeps say anything negative about Ajijic traffic. The only traffic, generally, in Ajijic is on the caraterra.

CanuckBob wrote:Ajijic scene???? Been to Chapala lately anytime during the early morning, late afternoon or weekend?? Makes Ajijic seem like a ghost town.

hahaha, sorry CB, don't take my comment personally. Wasn't meant to be.

Yes, Chapala can be congested and parking is an issue for sure. I go there OFTEN, though rarely on weekends, and I almost always find a spot to squeeze into within 2 or 3 blocks of the plaza. The good news is that Mi Ranchito Cremeria has just obtained a lot across the street from them and are offering free parking for an hour to their customers - of which, I am one.

All of my food and household shopping can now be done east of Super Lake. And enjoyably too! I shop occasionally at SL, I shop regularly at Schmitty's in SA, I shop regularly at Pancho's in Riberas, I shop regularly at Mi Ranchito Cremeria in Chapala, I buy the best produce for the best prices and selection at the bustling tienda 2 doors south of Ranchito Cremeria in Chapala, and I often get over to Lake Abastos in Chapala to see what new things they have added.

I thoroughly enjoy chatting with all the friendly people in Chapala. I guess the bottom line is I prefer the Chapala energy to the Ajijic energy.  YM is welcome TV!

Uh...….OK.