Banners began appearing in late 2022 above storefronts at Sam’s Trenton Plaza Phase II in McAllen.

The west side of Phase I faces Trenton and then wraps around as if highlighting the path for customers heading to Sam’s Club. Phase II rests immediately to the north of Phase I. It’s all part of the bustling growth and traffic in north McAllen. In this case, it’s the broad area of 10th Street and Trenton Road.

“We developed the first phase and then, since we already owned the other piece of property, we decided to develop it, too,” said Rodolfo Chapa, who owns Chapa Group Ltd. with his brother and father.

Growing Opportunities

This is one of the latest in the company’s broad portfolio of shopping-center developments. Chapa Group utilizes signage at the center, their contacts and local brokers to spread the word to prospective tenants. Last month, permanent signage began to replace some of those banners as business owners prepared to open their doors. 

On one storefront, “JEREMIAH’S,” stands out in bold red with “ITALIAN ICE – GELATI – SOFT ICE CREAM” in smaller yellow letters on a black background underneath.

“Around here, you see raspas, where they use chunks of ice, with that texture and pour flavors over the top,” said Joey Figueroa, who owns Jeremiah’s with his wife, Andrea, and Chase and Grisel Cooter. “But our Italian Ice is made with triple-filtered water, and the fruit and other flavors are all mixed together. The texture is smooth. It’s like lake-effect snow.”

Figueroa said people who live on the East Coast are known to call it “water ice,” though to Texans, it sounds more like “werter ice.” 

Jeremiah’s offers more than 40 flavors of Italian Ice. These include favorites like mango margarita, sour green apple, blueberry limeade, melon fresca and Scoop Froggy Frog, which is similar to mint chocolate chip. Customers can choose from 24 of the flavors Jeremiah’s offers daily, including sugar-free options.

Jeremiah’s also offers vanilla, chocolate and swirl soft ice cream served in a cup, a cake cone or a waffle cone. For the full Jeremiah’s experience, customers can combine the Italian Ice and the ice cream to create a gelati. Indoor and outdoor seating, a hand-painted mural of McAllen, catering, fundraising opportunities, “Caught You Doing Something Cool” cards and more add to the cool Jeremiah’s experience.

From Home To Storefront

Sonia’s Tamales & More is just a few doors down.

The tamales of Sonia Rodriguez were recently selected in a local television station poll as being the best in the Rio Grande Valley. The restaurant will offer tamale combos like cheese and jalapeno, and bean and cheese, as well as standards like chicken and pork. Customers will also find vegetarian and vegan tamales, menudo and barbacoa on the daily menu.

Sonia Rodriguez first learned the art of cooking and catering from her mother, Maria Carrillo. The two worked side by side for years. The economic challenges of 2020 brought things to a halt, but Rodriguez decided to get back into business, sticking to her expertise in tamale making. 

She was overwhelmed initially by the enormity of owning a business. Rodriguez shared her trepidation with her husband. 

“Reach for your dreams,” he told Sonia, reminding her of all she had accomplished with a home-based business that had already earned accolades. He also offered reassurances of full family support. Rodriguez plans to open the first week of February and will serve customers seven days a week. Sonia’s will offer her tamales for both wholesale and retail sales.

Joining Jeremiah’s and Sonia’s Tamales & More in Phase II will be a number of other businesses, including Tila’s Restaurant, Brow & Beauty Art, The Haute Boutique and Spa, Tacos El Andaluz, Kissi Restaurant and Bliss Nails Spa. 

“We are going to have a third phase,” Chapa said of future plans. “We are working on the plans for that. Probably by the end of this year.”