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Entrepreneur turns frozen treats into booming business

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Talk about sweet success!

Sylvia Terrazas began business in Las Cruces with a $1,500 microloan and a video rental store in a 300-square-foot rental property in 2000. In January, Terrazas will celebrate the fifth anniversary of Paleteria La Reyna Michoacana in the 3,500-square-foot building she owns at 870 E. Madrid Ave., just east of the intersection of Madrid and Solano Drive. And Terrazas has plans to expand even more in 2023, including the addition of a food truck.

She has 21 employees and has an investment of more than $1 million in her business and annual sales in excess of $1 million.

Paleteria La Reyna Michoacana is a store full of delights and surprises – ice cream, paletas, aguas frescas, manzana loca, elote en vaso, dulce Mexicano, nieve, funnel cake and other handmade treats.

In fact, “frozen goodness on a stick” is a loose translation of Michoacana. The full name of the business could be translated as “A Taste of the Queen’s Frozen Popsicles.”

“Every day it’s fresh,” said Terrazas, who brings in an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables to incorporate into her recipes.

You will also find a wide selection of giant piñatas, Mexican candy and sodas, toys and more than 80 different products in all at the store, including items in Spanish like Alka Seltzer, Emergen-C and skin care products. Terrazas also provides financial services like check-cashing, wire transfers and exchanging pesos for dollars.

In addition to being a successful entrepreneur, Terrazas is also a mentor and community activist.

She received a mayor’s citation for community service in 2021, was chosen as the State Star by the New Mexico Small Business Development Center in Las Cruces and received a small business award from the Las Cruces Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 2018.

Terrazas also helped register hundreds of community members for Covid vaccines at her business and has spoken to women entrepreneurs and business owners across the country.

It all started for Terrazas when she began helping to wait on customers in her grandmother’s small grocery store in Chihuahua when Terrazas was 8 years old.

“I like to meet with the people,” Terrazas said.

She came to the United States in 1995 and got her first business loan from WESST Corp. of Las Cruces when she opened Videos Éxitos a few blocks west of where she is now.

Jo Ann Garay, then with WESST Corp., helped arrange that first loan for Terrazas. Now, as director of the Las Cruces Small Business Development Center at Doña Ana Community College, Garay has remained a friend and business advisor to Terrazas for more than 20 years as the two watched their 21-year-old daughters grow up together.  

“She helped me a lot,” Terrazas said of Garay.

“Silvia is an example of a great entrepreneur,” Garay said. “For example, she is always thinking of ways to improve the business by making sure to provide what her customers want. In addition, she is passionate about helping entrepreneurs by providing mentorships and guidance.”

Paleteria La Reyna Michoacana is open Monday, Tuesday, Saturday: 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; Wednesday, 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Thursday, Friday: 9 a.m.-10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-10: p.m.

Call 575-524-7888.

Visit www.facebook.com/LaMichoacanaNM and www.nmsbdc.org/locations/las-cruces.


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