Hispanic grocer in east Charlotte expands, taking over a former pharmacy
A Hispanic grocer is expanding with a second Charlotte location.
El Rey Supermarket is planning an interior supermarket upfit at a “mercantile building” at 7115 E. W.T. Harris Blvd, according to a development construction plan filed with the city of Charlotte on Jan. 28. The nearly 11,200-square-foot building was a former Rite Aid and most recently a Walgreens pharmacy store.
The specialty grocer stocks majority Mexican products, as well items from El Salvador, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and other countries.
El Rey owner Jose Luis Fuentes of Charlotte said he had been looking for a spot for another location for three years. “We looked at a lot of places,” he said.
In May 2025, his limited liability company, Fuentes #4, purchased the east Charlotte property for $2.6 million, Mecklenburg County property records show.
Fuentes said he liked the location because it’s in a densely populated Hispanic area and there’s a lot of traffic on the corner lot.
Expanding from South Boulevard
This will be the second El Rey Supermarket, or Supermercado El Rey, in Charlotte. The first store opened at 6300 South Blvd. 16 years ago. It’s a 10,000-square-foot store with a small restaurant, Fuentes said.
Like the South Boulevard store, the east Charlotte El Rey will include a restaurant. New additions will be a tortilleria, juice bar and heladería, or ice cream bar. About 25 to 30 workers will be hired, Fuentes said.
The property is in the permit process and store design phase, Fuentes said. He hopes to open the store by the end of August.
El Rey Supermarket started 21 years ago in the Carolinas
Fuentes said he debuted the first El Rey Supermarket 21 years ago in Greenville, S.C., but that store has since closed, Fuentes said.
A second store opened in 2009 on Asheville Highway in Spartanburg and remains open. El Rey Supermarket has about 30 full- and part-time employees companywide.
