Battle Ground Market owners Miguel Rivera and Cindy Quintanilla are keeping the Al & Ernie’s tradition alive downtown. “No matter how many owners or name changes, this place will always be Al & Ernie’s to the community,” Quintanilla said. “We’re OK with that. We love meeting the people who always come here to shop and listening to their stories.”
Miguel Rivera left Puerto Rico 10 years ago with a dream of running his own general store.
He found the perfect place on the corner of Main and Grace streets in Battle Ground when Al & Ernie’s Foodliner went up for sale.
“When I found out about this place and the history, I thought ‘Oh man, this is my dream,” Rivera said. “I’ve been dreaming to have my own store since I was little. My aunt owned a store and I remember going to the cash register. Sometimes, I didn’t have a penny or five cents to buy candy. They still gave me the candy. I dreamed to do that for the kids, and it’s something that I have done here.”
Rivera got the keys to his own store in December. His request to keep the Al & Ernie’s name failed during the change of ownership, so he renamed the store Battle Ground Market.
“I thought it was going to take 30 days, but we closed down to remodel for four months. I underestimated the work that we had to do,” Rivera said.
The store had been left in shambles. The old freezer was covered in dirt and mold. During the clean-up process, Rivera and his brother Luis hauled out 38,000 pounds of garbage.
“Once we stocked the freezer with drinks and the aisles with food, we were getting excited,” Rivera said. “Then another week went by and we still hadn’t opened the doors. I started to get restless. I told my wife, ‘Baby, we need to open the doors no matter what.’”
On April 1, Rivera and his wife Cindy Quintanilla opened their doors to Battle Ground. Twenty minutes later, they had their first customer. The reaction from the visitor was everything Rivera dreamed of, even if the first transaction didn’t run smoothly at all.
“The first customer got a free drink because the computer shutdown. I told him to take it for free. He said, ‘No, I want to pay for it.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. You’re welcome back here anytime,” Rivera said. “Instead of making my first sale, I gave my first gift.”
Nine weeks later, things are running more smoothly at the market. Rivera and Quintanilla take turns running the store. Their daughter works at the store part time while she goes to school full time.
“Even though right now it’s just Miguel and I and our family here working, we have a lot of great customers who live right down the street. People who worked at Al & Ernie’s years ago and have offered to come back,” Quintanilla said.
“This is a treasure and I want to keep it historical,” Rivera said. “I see a lot of growth here. I see more local people working here. My goal one day is to step aside, once I find a great manager who can take care of the store.”
Wendy Neste is thrilled to see the old general store around the corner open again for business.
“It’s so convenient. Instead of having to go all the way down to Safeway or Walmart, they have all of those quick items you need right here,” Neste said.
“Back in the day, it was always Al & Ernie’s. Go to Al & Ernies. It’s just so nice to see it reborn,” she added. “It makes you still feel like a kid coming in here and getting candy, which I still do.”
Rivera and Quintanilla have big plans for the Battle Ground Market. Currently, only half of the 43,000-square foot building is open. By summertime, they hope to have a grill, deli and a seating area for customers visiting Battle Ground.
“There are so many events coming up in the summer that I’m excited about,” Quintanilla said. “Just knowing more families are going to be at the park fishing and camping. We hope they stop by here and tell us their stories.”
On May 11, Rivera estimated around 150 people came to the market for a grand reopening. When Mayor Mike Dalesandro presented the owners with a commemorative plaque, Rivera knew his dream had come true.
“Oh man, this is it,” he said. “We are a part of Battle Ground.”
Quintanilla admits she had her doubts at the beginning, but she knew her husband would persevere.
“He’s always full of dreams,” she said. “That’s what I love about him.”
Rivera and the Battle Ground Market are living proof that dreams do come true.
“I always say to people, ‘To think is to create,’” he said. “Whatever you think, you can create it.”
