I spoke with Sarah on the phone while she was writing the piece, but wanted to expand on what I believe is an important point for local grocery stores to keep in mind. Sarah quoted me in the article saying, "HyVee and Dahl's make a huge investment in marketing efforts day to day. We have something like 10 different Spanish-language newspapers distributed in Des Moines and surrounding areas and not one of them has an ad from HyVee or Dahl's that's in Spanish talking about these [ethnic product] sections in their stores."

I stand by my comment. Both stores are letting a window of opportunity for increased sales pass them by. First- and second-generation Latinos may plan for a single trip to the store per week, but young Latinos visit the store several times a week and follow the mainstream shopping patterns of most Americans. The big difference is they're looking for things like plantains, Bimbo snacks, and for Puerto Ricans, their beloved Goya-brand products, which are hard to come by in the "ethnic" aisle of mainstream supermarkets.

I know I'm an anomaly. I live a bilingual lifestyle. My house is in West Des Moines. Yesterday I ate a cheeseburger for dinner, but tomorrow I may go to the store to buy some plaintains to make some yummy "tostones" (a Puerto Rican fritter/side dish). I keep looking for Goya at the Super Target and coming up short. Maybe the day will come where I can buy some "sazón" and peanut butter all in one trip to the same store. That would be cool.