BUYING POWER
Columbus sees surge in disposable income among minorities
By Tony Adams, LEDGER-ENQUIRER

Millie Encarnacion knows firsthand that minority buying power has increased dramatically in the Columbus area.

She and husband, Harold "Lefty" Encarnacion, opened Millie's Market on South Lumpkin Road eight years ago and have watched it grow rapidly before their eyes. Selling everything from Hispanic specialty foods and fresh vegetables to prayer candles and international phone cards, revenue doubled in the last year, approaching $1 million.

"When we first opened up, we didn't know what was going to happen," she said Wednesday.

But the couple knew they were on to something when someone showed up with a notebook about five years ago, jotting down the names of products in their store. The business caters to Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans, Panamanians, Cubans, Dominicans and Colombians.

"I said, 'Who is that man all dressed up asking questions about our products and stuff?' " she said. "That's when other stores started adding Spanish things. Now you go to Publix and you find Goya and Mexican products. You find them in Piggly Wiggly, too."

It's those subtle commercial trends toward stocking ethnic items in supermarkets that are on the cutting edge of a report released Wednesday by the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth. The study says minority buying power has increased dramatically across the United States from 1990 to 2004.

African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and American Indians all have seen major leaps in the amount of dollars they have left after taxes for spending on goods and services ranging from food and entertainment to clothing and pets.

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