By: Ryan Tejero, Editor-in-Chief
South Texas Oriental Market is a one-stop Asian store that sells wholesale and retail Asian products from the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Hongkong.
Its humble beginnings started when Leonard Tubungbanua retired from flying cargo planes. He started to do some trucking business and delivered Asian products to Filipino stores in Brownsville Texas to McAllen. Then one day, one of the stores that he was delivering supplies sold his small Asian store to Leonard and Nanette. It was a perfect timing for Leonard as he would like to retire.
Nanette said that “The challenge in opening or starting the business is the financial aspect. I have experienced doing business as a child, and I know that it entails your full-time attention. I grew up at the store of my mother and helped in the opening and closing and maintaining inventories, I told my husband that it’s not going to be me that has the time to do that. So, we agreed that he will handle the business, and I’ll be the person behind the scenes. We made some sacrifices to save up some money as we don’t believe in starting business from taking up loans. I pulled out some money from my 401k and used it to start up our business. When you need to start a business, you need to dedicate your whole time on it. In our case, my husband did his 110 % and I continued working as a nurse until I became a Nurse Practitioner. We continue with the business, and we recently expanded in Laredo, Texas. To maintain a good inventory, we also continue our cargo trucking business to help another Asian store and nail salons.”
When it comes to her inspiration, Nanette said that “My husband inspired me to initiate the business. He likes to be challenged in doing other stuff that is not align with his career. An opportunity knocked on our door and we took it in a heartbeat when the owner of the small Asian Store in Brownsville had to retire due to back injury.
Currently, South Texas Oriental Market has successfully blended in with other retail stores in its area. Nanette said that “We promote all Southeast Asian products and introduce it to our local Hispanic community. We would like to introduce our own cultures and food flavors to other cultures, and we feel that we are well welcomed. They appreciate us and welcome us warmly and continue to support our business.”
The best part of their business, Nanette said is that they can connect with different cultures and people through food, snacks, cooking and discovering different flavors of Asia. The best advice both Nanette and husband Leonard can give to others who want to start a business is “Just go for it, if you have the means.”
Please follow South Texas Oriental Market on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
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