Julio’s Corn Chips
Julio’s Corn Chips are legend in these parts. The signature yellow bags of corn chips can be found on the shelf of every major grocery store not only in San Angelo, but in Lubbock, San Antonio, Houston or Dallas. This now thriving but small food manufacturing company has humble beginnings, having grown to a rather large food manufacturing enterprise with little more than the word of mouth of thousands of loyal customers.
The success story starts with Julio T. Garcia opening his business in Del Rio because he was laid off by the restaurant where he worked as a cook. A need to support the family pushed the Garcia’s into the business of corn chips, one they could not have predicted to end up in.
Julio’s children were involved in the business since the start up, since the very first used fryer they bought. It was his son, Jose Garcia, who brought the business to San Angelo in 1993. He attempted to expand Julio’s market along the border at first. “I tried it in Eagle Pass for six months, but I did not believe that the Eagle Pass market was going to be large enough,” Jose said. “We came to San Angelo to look around, and I liked what I saw,” Jose recalled.
He quickly brought all his fixtures from Eagle Pass and found a building on S. Bryant Street. A lot of challenges were still awaiting his business. “We could not afford to advertise, so I decided to use the taste test method.” They began distributing their product in sandwich bags, plastic cups, and even ice bags. By that time they were selling not only tortilla chips, but salsa to go with it as well.
Now the company has its own recognizable brand image, very good packaging and several locations around town. Jose has even started a new venture: Julio’s Burritos. Looking toward the future, Jose remains focused on growth. He plans on opening a new location or gaining a new market each year.
Jose’s success, like his father’s, is due to his adamant desire to provide his customers with friendly, courteous service and products with the highest quality ingredients. A location choice that did not come easy proved to be right. Not only did San Angelo provide proximity to various different markets in the state, it is also a very special West Texas community that became and still remains loyal to high quality food service.