Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
Joaquin Peña is the owner of The Health Nut; two stores that have unique products, which are difficult to find in the market place. He said, “We have meal replacement shakes; we have protein shakes, all natural shakes, and we also do fresh juices, probably one of the healthiest things you can do for your body.”
The Health Nut is located in Mission and in McAllen; both are classified by Joaquin as health food stores. “We’re definitely trying to improve the health of the area,” he said.
Joaquin knows that he is running a business which tries to educate and improve people’s health. He said, “Now we sell supplements for people who want to gain muscle weight or people who want lose weight.”
When Joaquin started the business it started as kind of a dream. He said, “I’ve been trying to open this for several years. I retired law enforcement after twenty years.”
Since he opened the stores, Joaquin has experienced a positive welcome from clients. The Health Nut stores attract people from as far away as Rio Grande City and from Browsnville and all around Hidalgo County.
His weekends are very strong too, customers travel from far away distances just to buy fresh juices that they also take home.
Another aspect of the business besides providing healthy products, he said, “It’s been nonstop. Now I designed the store in a form where all my employees are required to be enrolled in college.” He said that even though he knows that he is going to lose them, he insists and encourages them to attend college. “When they graduate and leave, at that point I am happy to lose the,” he said.
Joaquin started his professional career in the city of Mission. He said, “I credit the Mission Volunteer Fire Department for probably keeping me out of prison because as a young kid before I turned eighteen, I was bad.”
He also credits people like Rick Saldaña, Robert Alvarez and Jene Palomo, because they took him under their wings. He said that at the age of eighteen he was exposed to a dream world being a firefighter. “I worked on the tragic Mission school bus accident and numerous of other events and eventually became a paid firefighter and from there I moved on to law enforcement,” he said.
Right now Joaquin has two stores: The Health Nut in Mission and the other one inside The Gym At Uptown in McAllen called The Health Nut at Uptown. He runs the stores with a total of thirteen part timers and soon he is going to add one more because according to him they’re always full in the morning.
The Health Nut stores specialize in protein rich meal replacement shakes and healthy 100% fresh vegetable/fruit juices. They also sell all of your body transformation supplements including: Proteins, Pre & Post Workouts, Vitamins, Fat burners, Testosterone Boosters, and so much more.
The Health Nut in Mission at 1615 E Griffin Pkwy, Mission, TX 78572, Ph. (956) 424-3380 and The Health Nut Uptown at 4500 North 10th Street Suite 400, McAllen. TBB
The Health Nut is a proud member of the Mission Chamber of Commerce. TBB
