NOGALES, AZ — Businesses in Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, rely on cross-border shoppers to stay afloat.
City data in Nogales, Arizona, estimates between 60% to 70% of the total annual sales and hotel revenue comes from Mexican and cross-border shoppers.
Gregory Kory owns Kory’s and La Cinderella stores in Nogales. His parents started the retail business nearly 80 years ago. Kory’s storefront is feet away from the US-Mexico border.
“We’ve always depended on the Mexican customer,” Kory said. “They did come for holiday, not as strongly as they used to.”
ABC15 and Scripps News have launched this special series taking an in-depth look at life along the U.S.-Mexico border.
While the family business boomed for decades, Kory says now, shopping habits have changed. He attributes lasting changes to shopping habits long after pandemic-era closures and a recent months-long closure of the small port entrance in front of his shop.
“People had to find other sources other ways of finding their merchandise and getting their needs and they did,” Kory said. “There’s a lot of businesses closing.”
Kory said he’s not giving up, having to get creative with pricing, marketing, and outreach to compete with stores south of the border.
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“We just have to find a different way of doing it,” Kory said. “A way of doing it that is sustainable.”
Meanwhile, on the Sonoran side, businesses are booming in part because of American shoppers who go across to save money, from medicine to dining out and beyond.
Dr. Rafael Valencia at Black Aesthetics said 90% of his clients come from the U.S. for things like Botox and fillers.
“I focus on medical tourism,” Valencia said. “It’s really the same product that they use in the United States but, obviously, with much lower prices.”
While Mexico has different medical regulations, Valencia said he has an extensive six-year, post-graduate education specializing in cosmetic surgery.
Firm Patients Without Borders lists Mexico among the top countries outside the US for medical tourism.