Maria Alcantar, owner of La Michoacana, takes a picture of herself in the store, wearing a traditional blouse.
Contributed Photo
THE DALLES — It’s hard to miss it. A bright yellow and green building on Kelly Street, adorned with colorful advertisements on the outside and equally colorful pinatas on the inside, La Michoacana has become a staple of The Dalles. Around lunchtime every weekday, you’ll see a dutiful stream of high-schoolers headed to the convenience store, each with a few dollars clutched in hand, ready to buy that day’s lunch.
It’s been that way for years, a comfortingly familiar sight. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, it stopped. No more in-person school meant no more high-schoolers. Though the store managed to stay afloat, it felt like that was the least of their problems.
Nelly Moore, an employee at La Michoacana and the daughter of the owner, Maria Alcantar, said they spent a lot of the beginning of the pandemic being worried about being shut down. Every day, they watched the new rules and shutdowns and held their breath, hoping they wouldn’t be next, she said.
“It was scary,” she said. “Just never knowing what was going to happen.”
In particular, the harvest the first year was difficult, Moore said. Because there were restrictions on how many customers could be inside the building at once, they risked missing out on business.
“That was like our busiest season,” she said. “And to limit people inside was really hard. Because they would just choose to go elsewhere.”
There was also the consistent fear as they watched other businesses in town shut down, she said.
“When it’s a small business, I can definitely imagine their depression, the frustration of bills piling up,” Moore said. “When we heard the restaurants were closing, it was like, could the next thing be us?”
There was also the fear of getting sick, Moore said. They were worried about what would happen if too many employees got sick at once, she said. Luckily, they only had two people ever get sick, and Moore and her family managed to dodge it.
“We felt really lucky,” Moore said.
Moore said her biggest fear at the time was not getting sick herself, but unknowingly getting her customers sick.
“We do have a lot of elderly customers that would … choose to come here because they would say, ‘I don’t want to go to a place that has even more people walk through,’” she said. “So to hear that, you’re like, ‘I gotta stay healthy because these people are vulnerable.’”
Throughout the pandemic, Moore said they never had to close. Regulations allowed them to stay open and they had a consistent amount of customers that helped them keep the doors open.
“We’re so grateful to everyone,” Moore said. “And I know my mom (Alcantar) is really grateful too.”
Of course, there are still struggles. Even now, it can be a challenge to always get what they need, Moore said. There are often shortages that mean they can’t have the things they normally would, which has taken some adjusting and thinking ahead. But customers have been flexible, Moore said.
Moore said she and Alcantar want everyone to know that when they come to La Michoacana, they’re not just buying a product: They’re supporting members of their own community.
“They’re supporting my family and the families of the people we employ and their kids,” Moore said. “I really thank everybody because that dollar, you know, that adds up. Every single person helped us keep going.”
La Michoacana is located at 1210 Kelly Ave., in The Dalles. The store has a deli, as well as groceries and other household supplies. They are open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ay and Sunday.
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