Five Questions with Ernesto Villarreal, founder of El Rey Foods

Ernesto Villarreal is a Mexican American entrepreneur, community leader, and co-founder of El Rey Foods, one of Wisconsin’s most successful Hispanic-owned businesses. After immigrating to Milwaukee with his family in the 1960s, Villarreal worked alongside his father in a small neighborhood grocery store that served the city’s growing Mexican immigrant community. In 1978, he and his brothers, Heriberto (“Beto”) and Armando Villarreal, opened the first El Rey supermarket on Milwaukee’s south side with a mission to provide authentic Mexican foods and products that were difficult to find in the region at the time. 

Under Villarreal’s leadership, El Rey grew from a single neighborhood market into a multifaceted enterprise that includes supermarkets, a tortilla manufacturing facility, and a wholesale distribution business serving restaurants and retailers throughout Wisconsin. Beyond its commercial success, El Rey has become a cultural and community institution, helping generations of Latino families maintain connections to their heritage while introducing Hispanic cuisine and traditions to a broader audience.
 

Q: What’s it like for you to be in your store every day and interact with the customers?

Villarreal: “It feels great. The store gives me incredible energy. I work upstairs, but I’ll come down just to meet the customers and talk to them. It’s great to just be around the store. I’m the director of the store, but I’ve also done every job here. I was a meat cutter. I was a produce buyer. I’ve done everything.”

“The support from the Milwaukee community means the world to us. But we’ve got to continue doing everything possible for the customer to make them feel like they’re home when they visit the store. I want them to feel really welcome. I want them to be happy. And I want them to come back.”
 

Q: Your father started in the grocery business. What was it like for you watching him, and what did you learn from him?

Villarreal: “I learned from my dad that you’ve got to be there for your customer. My father would go the distance for customers. If somebody came and knocked on his door in the middle of the night and said, ‘I need this’, he would open the door and take care of the customer. It wouldn’t matter what time it was. The customer always comes first. And the customer is always right.”

“I also learned that you’ve got to give the best quality possible for customers. And at the beginning when I started the business, after we would finish working, we’d be on our way home, and my father would say, ‘how did it go?’ and my wife would reply, ‘as long as you’ve got food to eat, you’ll be fine.’”

Q: Why did you decide to start the business with your brothers? And why did you pick the location that you did?

Villarreal: “We saw an opportunity because 40 years ago, there was not a full grocery store in the area. And it came to our minds that the thing to do was create a full-service grocery store that would serve the customer and even the neighborhood. From the beginning, we wanted to help people and create a store that served the customer well. And we knew this area was the centerpiece of the South Side. So, we built the store with a restaurant, and we even have a juice bar in the corner.”

“But the store has grown beyond the neighborhood. One time, I was in front bagging roses for a customer and a different customer said to me, ‘I came all the way from Macon Road to get this salsa.’ But he didn’t only buy the salsa. He bought 10 more items. I love hearing comments like that from customers.”
 

Q: Being involved in the community is important to you. Why is that such a core value of your business?  

Villarreal: “Since the beginning, we’ve always liked to help people. We like to help organizations that help people, especially the ones in the South Side that need it the most. That’s the main thing for us. Years ago, I was invited to speak at Johnny House, and the teacher asked the crowd, ‘Does anyone know this person?’ and one person stood up and said, ‘I know him. He helped me get my green card.’ That just felt so powerful.”
 

Q: And now how do you feel about having your son and grandson in the business?

Villarreal: “My kids and grandkids are the future of El Rey. They’re really proud of the name and the company. I think they enjoy working here in their own way. It’s very neat because they’ve got new ideas. And that will help the company in the long run. I hope the new generation takes the legacy of my father and makes it even bigger.”