With its colorful rows of dried chiles, beans, nuts, seasonings and a rainbow of mole pastes imported weekly from Mexico, by walking-tour company Esotouric and confirmed by representatives for Grand Central Market. But the granddaughter of the man who put the stand and its mole selection on the map is hoping to eventually reprise it in a new format and for a new era, filling the shoes of both Celestino Lopez and his daughter, Rocio Lopez, who inherited the stall from her late father.
Lopez didn’t set an official closing date — instead choosing to phaseout her stall quietly — though her last day in Grand Central Market was April 2. According to her niece, she’d made the decision to retire last fall. From there, the family planned their long exit. The flavorful moles are purchased through an importer, which sources its range of pastes from small, family-run operations primarily located in Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero. These business ties have now spanned decades and generations.
Armendariz says the current owners of Grand Central Market have been incredibly kind to her family and actively sought to aid and keep the market’s legacy vendors running, for which she is grateful. Still, the third-generation Chiles Secos owner said that the changing landscape simply no longer felt like the right fit for the concept.
In 2013 she helped move the shop into the digital era by building its social-media presence, which she’s run for the last decade, and it’s through the digital space that Armendariz hopes to relaunch the shop in the near future. She plans to focusing on the moles, though her full business plan is still a work in progress.