In Photos: A walk through Mercado Marimar

Photos by Camila Trimberger.

By Camila Trimberger

Nearly 450,000 Latines live in Wisconsin, taking up about 7% of the state. With such a small and sparse population (with the exceptions of Milwaukee and farming communities such as Abbotsford), immigrant placemaking in Wisconsin is incredibly important. One way Latine populations make room for themselves in majority white areas is through grocery stores. Individually owned, they offer brands and ingredients essential to Latin cuisines, aisles filled with Catholic memorabilia, and a place for Latinos to convene. Follow along through a series of photos from Mercado Marimar, a store in Madison popular among UW’s Latino student population, along with the author’s personal connection to these stores.

I found out about Mercado Marimar through the Latinx Cultural Center when I was a freshman on campus. They gave us a list of resources including restaurants, student orgs and stores.

When I was a kid my mom would always shop at a place called La Conquistadora in Sheboygan, which I just always called “the Mexican store.” I remember the first thing she always bought was a phone card from the lady behind the checkout so she could call our family back home.

While “Mexican stores” are pretty much all individually owned, they are all virtually the same on the inside. Handmade piñatas line the ceilings along with images of La Virgencita Plis (a popular children’s character of the Virgin Mary).

Mi Costeñita sells everything. Every Latine market I’ve been to is lined with these iconic bags filled with spices, snacks, and more. Since I can remember I’ve opted for garbanzos con chile and cacahuates japonéses.

In the back you can find the butchers speaking in Spanish while cutting up meats such as lengua, pastor and carnitas. Here in Madison the butchers are all adults, but when I was in high school I remember ordering from my classmates.