Our History

In 1948, after returning from World War II, Edward Fienman and his partner Louie Linawicz decided to open a small grocery store in downtown Detroit. In 1967, an A & P Foods moved in two blocks away from their store and closed them out. Edward very determined to succeed decided to move one block closer to the A & P and open a small meat market, E & L Meat Co.

At a young age, Ben Fienman began working stock at his father’s store. This continued through high school where he was working every weekend and every holiday he could at the market. After graduating high school, Ben continued his education and began attending U of D Dental School. In 1974, Ben left school and started working full-time at the family market. By mid to late 70’s, a large Hispanic community began to build in the surrounding area around the store. Ben then bought the buildings next door to E & L Meats and built an authentic tortilla factory. Several years later he sold the tortilla factory. The factory is currently still operating in the same building as Hacienda Foods and supplies the store with 1000’s of freshly made flour tortillas daily. Over the next 10 years Ben made several additions to the original store that included a full kitchen, grocery sections, additional registers and a large produce section. Finally in August of 1999, E & L Supermercado was born with a brand new building.

E & L Meats has been a part of the community from the beginning and will continue to serve their needs and wants. We have regular customers in five different states and three different countries that drive extra long distances just to shop at our store. With Ben’s three sons now working in the business, E & L Supermercado will continue to provide the great quality and service their grandfather provided over 60 years ago.