Businessman Followed His Dream To Noel
Genaro Salas, owner of the Rio Alce Conoco in Noel, had a dream to work for himself that led him to Noel 21 years ago.
Salas, who was born in Mexico, grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. When he got married and had children, he went to community college for a little while, but he felt he was running out of time to complete it. He and his wife, Maria, began discussing starting their own business. That was what brought them to Rogers, Ark.
They had family in Rogers, and when they visited they learned there were a lot of other Hispanics and a lot of opportunities in the area, Salas said. His wife, however, was not immediately on board with moving to Arkansas. Salas had a good job in Texas and their house was paid for.
“I was doing my thing, little by little, but I felt like I could do more,” he said. Some family members told him he was crazy for thinking about moving, but Salas said, “I just felt like if I was going to be working all the time I needed to be doing something for myself.”
After planning the move for three years, the family moved to Rogers, where Salas worked for Walmart for six months. He didn’t really enjoy it, but then he found the store that he would come to own in Noel. He said as soon as he came to Noel, he knew they were going to stay there. He just had a feeling.
“Twenty-one years later, I guess I was right,” he said. “We worked really hard to have what we have, and we still do. The more you have, the harder you have to work. At least I know some day, when I sell the store, I’ll have something to show for it.”
He said the Rio Alce Conoco on Cliffside Drive is one of the busier places in Noel -— just because of its location.
“Here, everybody knows everybody. Most of the people are really good customers. After so many years, this has become my home, my community. I feel like I belong here. I have a lot of good friends, a lot of good customers.”
People ask Salas what he is going to do next. “I don’t know,” he tells them.
He has scaled back his business ventures a bit. At one point he had a store in Neosho and a radio station in Southwest City. He used to run a bar behind the Rio Alce Conoco, but now he just rents out the space for private parties. He also used to run Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant, but now he leases it to another party.
“I was running all the time back and forth,” he said. “I’m slowing down.”