Companies catering to ever-growing Latino dollar

BY ALEJANDRO CORTES

acortes@latribunacolorado.com

Despite the divisiveness of illegal immigration in Greeley, local companies are aware of the importance of the Spanish-speaking market and have begun to give it more attention.

According to the U.S. Census, close to 30 percent of the population in Greeley is Hispanic, and about half of them speak Spanish. Although the census reported that the Hispanic households in Weld County had an average income of $37,791 in 2000 -- 23.7 percent less than the $51,809 average income of all households in the area -- their economic impact is still important.

Banks were the first to adopt measures to serve people who only speak, or prefer to speak, Spanish. Almost all have bilingual workers and advertise in both languages, and other businesses have begun to follow their lead.

"We at the Greeley Mall understand the importance of the Hispanic dollar in the community," said Randy Berman, general manager of the Mall. "(They) are important to us and we recognize there is a significant Latino market in the Greeley area."

According to a study by the Northern Colorado Communications Group, 83 percent of the area's Latino population prefers to shop in Greeley.

"That's why we will continue to market to this group using various channels to gain that Hispanic dollar," said Berman.

Large companies also are paying attention to the Latino market. On Jan. 3, Champion Chevrolet, one of the largest car dealers in the area, unveiled their Grupo Latino, a sales team of five Spanish speakers.

"There were some research and we found there is a lot of Spanish speaking households in the area. We always had been trying to make a comfortable environment for our customers, and because we didn't have Spanish speaking salesmen available, the people who speak in Spanish didn't feel comfortable to purchase an automobile from us," said Preston Coleman, general manager of Champion Chevrolet.

"We thought that we would make some (Spanish speaking) people accessible and advertise it (Grupo Latino), so they know who to ask for when they come in, and it's all an effort to provide a comfortable environment for people to purchase a car."

The results have been better that they had hoped. In less than 14 days, through the Grupo Latino, the dealership sold 10 cars.

"It's been above expectations," Coleman said. "It's doing better than we thought it was going to do. The feedback from the customers, you know, we have people who said, 'About time to do something like this,' and the customers are very happy."

This seems to be only the beginning, as companies realize that it makes economic sense to serve the needs of the largest minority in the U.S.

"Just don't tell everybody what to do, because it's working good for us," joked Coleman.