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A&J Snack Shop owner Anna Olveda cuts the ribbon at the Grand Opening Celebration for her business, standing alongside family and friends and that helped her make it happen. Kylie Garcia - CC -
A&J Snack Shop owner Anna Olveda standing in her very own establishment — an accomplishment she dreamt of for years. Kylie Garcia - CC
CITY OF GRANTS, N.M. – A new business in town was welcomed to the Grants community by the Chamber of Commerce, community members, friends, and family on Saturday, April 9. A&J Snack Shop, located on 333 Nimitz Drive, participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. to celebrate their opening and further introduce themselves to the community.
The owner of A&J Snack Shop is Anna Olveda, who has lived in the Cibola County area for her whole life. According to Olveda, owning a food business has always been a dream of hers, and it took a great deal of hard work and family support to finally make that dream come true. A&J Snack Shop Manager Karla Jaramillo spoke on this further, adding, “Anna’s lived here all her life. This has always been her dream to have an establishment of her own. She was a single mother, but she worked numerous jobs to support her kids and she worked really hard.” “Very hard,” a family member affirmed. Jaramillo continued, “Now that her children are older and her grandchildren obviously are older as well, they all came together and helped out, because she deserved to have something of her own. So, everyone just put a lot of effort in and made her dream come true pretty much. And she hopes that one day her legacy will continue with her grandchildren.”
That dream officially came true when A&J Snack Shop opened up on January 8, 2022. Family members and supporters of Olveda emphasized how A&J Snack Shop is a testament to Olveda’s hard work, her love for her family, and the power of family coming together to give back to the one who was a rock for them all. Going forward, Olveda hopes to have her grandchildren involved in the business, both to give them something to be a part of and to keep the family-rooted dream going.
Since opening, Manager Jaramillo says that business has been going relatively well. “We have our days. I mean, I’m sure everyone does,” said Jaramillo, who explained that since A&J just opened not too long ago, the business is still in the process of putting their name out there and allowing community members to get used to them. Jaramillo said that word-of-mouth recommendations from customers have been helpful with growth so far, and that the hope of Saturday’s Grand
Opening Celebration was to put themselves out there even more. The event consisted of not only a ribbon cutting ceremony in the morning, but a car show, awards, music, and fellowship the rest of the day as well.
The snack shop is hopeful that business will grow more with time as the community continues to discover them and give them a try. As far as what is available to try, Jaramillo stated that A&J Snack Shop has “a little bit of everything,” including Spanish food, sandwiches, rice bowls, wraps, nachos, fries, and more. Jaramillo says that most popular menu items so far have been their breakfast burritos, Frito pies, loaded fries, and both their red and green chile, which Jaramillo said some customers tell them is the best they’ve had.
After all of the hard work and family support, Olveda said that it feels “great” to finally have her business up and running. According to Jaramillo, A&J’s hopes for the future include expanding, perhaps by obtaining a food truck or developing a food tray package in order to participate in vending for local events. When asked if there were any final thoughts or comments for the community, Olveda proudly stated, “Shop local!”
A&J Snack Shop is closed on Sundays, but is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The contact number for A&J is 505-285-7475.