City Market in San Miguel, icon on NM Highway 28, turns 100 this year

Estella Borunda and her daugher Marisa Reynolds at the family business, City Market in San Miguel. City Market will celebrate 100 years of business on Dec. 26, 2025.

Eighty-year-old Estella Borunda can be found five days a week behind the counter of City Market in San Miguel.

Estella said business was "slow" lately, at the market her parents, Eulogio and Pilar Borunda, opened in 1925 on S. NM Highway 28. Then, the economy of the small community south of Las Cruces was driven by workers at Stahmann's Pecan Farm and other migrant laborers.

"My dad opened in 1925, and he said he liked the business a lot, so he wanted his own store," Estella said of her father, affectionately nicknamed Lofie. "People will still call the store Lofie's."

In 1993, Eulogio fell and broke his hip, and Estella began to lend a hand in running the store. For 32 years, she's been greeting customers from a sales counter that's just the right height to lean on while chatting with patrons. And from that counter Estella's borne witness to the changes within the market and the community of San Miguel.

Today, the market carries an inventory of food and general items, and draws loyal customers who have shopped at the small business for years, as well as those who happen upon it while traveling down NM 28.

Often, Estella said, a customer is just picking up a small item. Her shelves are lined with red chile, pinto beans she separates into paper bags, tripe and hominy and a bounty of locally sourced products. City Market sells tortillas from La Esperanza Tortilla Factory in Canutillo, meat from MAC's Meat in Las Cruces, and pastries from Lujan's Bakery — all sales she rings up at the same Remington cash register her parents made sales from.

The register sitting on the counter of City Market in San Miguel has been used in the community grocery store since it opened in 1925.

"The older customers, (there are ) not too many because a lot of them have passed away. There are a lot of new people that come in, drive by and they stop in," Estella said. "People from way back, they'll stop by and I don't even remember them, but they remember me. And the older people who remember my parents, they'll stop by sometimes."

Estella said the shrinking community saw many move away for better job opportunities, leading to the closure of small businesses in the community, including La Copita Bar, owned by Walter "Wali" Maya, who passed away in 2024.

Behind the counter on Dec. 16, Estella's daughter, Marisa Reynolds, reminisced about the heyday of San Miguel and City Market.

"My grandfather used to have a soda fountain," Reynolds said. The Borundas would sell banana splits and shakes, fresh meat, fruits and vegetables, and school supplies and other items filled display cases that today still showcase products in City Market.

City Market is bracketed by the Borunda family home, where Estella and her two brothers were born and the former Riverside Dance Hall, built in 1936 and also owned and operated by her parents.

City Market at 19116 S. Highway 28 in San Miguel opened in 1925 by Eulugio and Pilar Borunda.. The business will celebrate its 100th year on Dec. 26, 2025.

"It was fun growing up here," Estella said. "I mean, we all had a good time. He (Eulogio) even bought one of the first TVs, and the kids would come in here and watch TV because they didn't have one at home. I remember that.

"And then the dances, of course."

The dance hall hosted quinceañeras, live bands and church dances. The last dance the hall hosted was in 1999, the same year Pilar Borunda died. Eulogio died in 1998 in his 90s. His granddaughter recalls him as a kind man, a "jokester" who made everyone smile.

"A lot of people who come in that haven't been here in a long time, they remember the dances like they were yesterday," Reynolds said.

She remembers the smell of her grandmother's cooking.

"It was very homey. My grandmother cooked on a wood stove, she made fresh tortillas every day, she made chile. She spoiled us all and that's what I remember, the smell when she would cook. I feel like I walk in here sometimes and I can still smell the food cooking," Reynolds said.

Estella and Marisa aren't sure what the future holds for City Market, the legacy of three generations of Borundas.

"I'm hoping that it continues to be a store," Reynolds said, but despaired that the business was sustainable unless San Miguel saw a revitalization.

City Market is located at 19116 S. Highway 28 in San Miguel. The market has operated continuously since 1925 when it was opened by Eulugio and Pilar Borunda. Today the market is owned and operated by their daughter, 80-year-old Estella Borunda who opens its doors five days a week.

Travelers on NM 28 can stop by City Market Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The market is a convenient stop along the route that leads south of Las Cruces, Reynolds said, for those exploring historic Mesilla, visiting Rio Grande Winery in San Pablo, and stopping for a bite at the popular Chope's Bar & Cafe in La Mesa.

The public is invited to help City Market celebrate 100 years of business with cake at 1 p.m. on Dec. 26 at the market. And just like she's been doing for the last three decades, the octogenarian said she'll be there to greet customers.

"I'll stay as long as I can, " Estella said.