The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The owners of La Providencia, a four-month-old store offering Mexican products, received a special guest on January 14: State Assemblyman Joe Danielsen.
Danielsen (D-12) didn’t come empty-handed. He brought with him a citation from the state Legislature congratulating the owners – Lilia Rios and her husband, Fransisco del Toro – on their new business, in the name of Legislative District 12 residents.
“I would like to welcome new businesses to Franklin Township, give them encouragement, thank them for coming, wish them well, and let them know that we’re all a big family in Franklin, and to do something special and unique for them,” Danielsen said. “It’s nothing of real business value, but it’s just encouragement and good spirit.”
La Providencia is located at 695 Hamilton Street, near the Par 2 Play indoor golf range.
The store offers item of particular interest to native Mexicans, including holiday decorations, home goods, and furniture.
The owners have been in business for nearly 20 years, mainly out of their main location in Passaic. The decision to move to Franklin was spurred by requests from customers who drove to Passaic from the New Brunswick area, Rios said.
“We picked the area because with Franklin we can cover New Brunswick,” she said. “It was the right place to cover the area.”
“We started listening to our customers asking for a closer location, so they didn’t have to drive there to to get their basic stuff like for the kitchen, and decorations, and seasonal products,” she said.
“The idea since the beginning is to bring all these products that represent the nostalgia and the products that are the Mexican communities looking to continue living the traditions and the culture as Mexicans,” Rios said.
La Providencia’s impact has been felt in Franklin already, del Toro said. The owners of Tacos Basilio on Somerset Street outfitted their restaurant with products from La Providencia.
“We have a little bar for the house, kitchenware, decorations, candies, cleaning supplies, big pots to cook for parties or even restaurants as well,” he said. “So it’s not just a grocery store or a supermarket … it’s a mix of everything. Also, we have sweatshirts, ponchos, serapes, so it’s more than a regular store.”
“The idea, when we decided to open La Providencia, was to fulfill the needs of the other products that people don’t look at it, but they need it in their house,” Rios said. “So mostly this will be like a household store. Consider it as a Latino Home Goods.”
The couple also have a store in Plainfield and a warehouse in Hope.
“That warehouse is where we do the distribution for five states in this area,” Del Toro said. “We have more than 1,500 clients between New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut.”
La Providencia is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.
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