By BOBBIE GREEN
The Progress
The first drive-up convenience store in Mesquite held its grand opening event on Thursday morning, June 13 amid triple digit temperatures.
Riverside Mini Mart opened with a ribbon cutting, hosted by Mesquite Chamber of Commerce, and an appearance of radio station 95.9 The Hawk Classic Rock to air the event. The store is located at 391 Riverside Road at the northwest corner of Hafen Lane.
Co-owners Ronald Gagliano, and Arron Wisniewski broke ground on the corner of Hafen Lane and Riverside Road in April of 2023. It has been a long struggle getting up and running, but the convenience store is now open.
This unique mini-mart is like the back-in-the-day drive-ins where the customer stayed in the car and a service worker came out to greet them and take their order. Greeters bring menus to customers in their cars so they can make their choice.
Alternatively, Wisniewski said, the most convenient way is for customers to download the store’s app. It has the full menu and customers can order online before leaving home or work. Go to https://www.//riversideminimart.com to install the app.
The store carries normal convenient store items like candy, chips, beverages, slushes, beer and wine. But they also have household items like toothpaste, laundry soap, eggs, bread and milk.
The mini-mart even has sandwiches to go. Gagliano said that he looking to partner with an established fast-food eatery to have some brand name foods to go, in the near future.
The store is intended to be very convenient for off road vehicle users to pick up ice and other necessities on their way to the trails.
“Other items will be added according to customers requests,” said Wisniewsi. “Our biggest challenge right now is getting customers to try us. We try our best to be competitive with prices, but our purchasing power is not as great as Walmart. However, we can provide convenience.”
Patrons should know that the entrance to the store is accessed off of Hafen Lane, just beyond the mini mart building. It you follow the arrows it is an easy in and out.
The store’s operating hours are Monday -Thursday 6am- 10pm Fridays 6 am – 11pm, Saturdays 9am-11pm, and Sundays 9am- 10pm.
Both the co-owners own other small businesses. Gagliano lives in Mesquite and owns Meridian Electric. Wisniewski lives in Las Vegas where his other businesses are located.
