Thirty-two years ago, with 40 dollars in her pocket and the need to provide for her family, Lilia Nuñez launched a street-vending business in Phoenix selling elotes preparados, raspados and other tasty Mexican snacks. The grocery cart she had mildly altered to make her small enterprise come to life operated out of a shopping plaza located on the corner of Van Buren Street and 29th Avenue.
Today she owns 15 locations throughout the Phoenix area.
The menu at La Carreta de Lily — which translates to Lily’s Wagon — hasn’t changed much since she began her business. Mexican street corn, strawberries with cream, fruit covered with Tajín, lime juice, and chamoy and shaved ice doused with fruit syrups made with natural ingredients are some of the Mexican snacks that can be found at any of the locations in Glendale, Tolleson, Laveen and Phoenix.
Nuñez, 56, better known as Lily, is a businesswoman who now employs about 170 people in metro Phoenix and owns Plaza La Carreta de Lily, located at 2902 W. Van Buren St. — where her small grocery cart first set up shop.