Building a Legacy of Kindness with Juan Chuc Hardware  

Almost fifty years ago, Juan Chuc started his own hardware store in San Ignacio Town, calling it Juan Chuc & Sons Hardware. It didn’t take long for the store to become one of the biggest locally owned businesses around, cementing Juan Chuc’s legacy in the Cayo District. In today’s episode of Belize on Reel, we had a chat with Chuc to hear the story of how his business took off and what he thinks about the legacy he’s leaving behind.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

It’s 1977, and Juan Chuc has just opened the doors to his very first business, the aptly named Juan Chuc store. What started as a small grocery quickly took off when Chuc decided to branch out into hardware. Before diving into the world of business, Chuc spent over sixteen years working with heavy-duty construction equipment. It was this expertise that helped him transform his store into the well-known Juan Chuc Hardware.

 

Juan Chuc, Founder, Juan Chuc & Sons Hardware

“Lot of people help me though because I remember when I was selling cement, I couldn’t buy no steel. So an American Jamaican come and live in Santa Elena. He told me I need some steel, man. I tell him I no sell, I only sell cement. He say, how can you buy steel? Why you don’t buy? I tell ah I don’t have no money. He said, how much money you need? I tell him about more or less about ten thousand. He say, I will give you the ten thousand. You buy your steel, you gimme my steel, and then you pay me afterwards. I tell him, really? You will do that? He say, yes. I tell him thank you, and man, gimme the money. So I add one truckload of steel.”

 

Juan Chuc Hardware quickly became a vital part of the community, helping small businesses with financial opportunities. Eighteen years ago, Chuc’s son commissioned wreath maker Maritza Manzanero, and when Juan saw her beautiful creations, he knew he had to share them with a wider audience.

 

Maritza Manzanero, Colleague & Friend

“We started chatting and we became good friends and he asked me where I had gotten the wreath from. So I explained to him that I was working with flowers and I started making them. So he said if I would be interested, we could try and place them in his store and sell them. So I spoke with my daddy for the money and my daddy said, well, what you can do is make it for a price, so that he can earn something like a profit. So, I chatted with him and he said, he was so happy with it. So I brought about eighteen wreaths and about two weeks time, I received a phone call that no wreaths were left in the store.”

 

Things took an unfortunate turn when Chuc contracted COVID and could no longer manage his store. He handed the business over to his sons, but they struggled to keep it afloat, leading to its closure. Undeterred, Chuc kept his entrepreneurial spirit alive by opening a smaller shop, lovingly named Sandy’s Shop after his wife. Through it all, Chuc says his loyal customers have always stood by him.

 

Juan Chuc

“They always buy with me and they always tell me to keep going. Because they know that I come from working hard in the field, and they know I never have no money and they know how they admire how I’m working and I work good with the people, they help me and I help them. I treat them good. Sometimes when they come, then they buy, and you know the sun hot deh, I bring wa drink. I tell them, unu have this man, take care. Refresh yourself. And when them feel good.”

 

Chuc’s store has always been a beacon of opportunity for the community, offering hardware supplies at fair prices. Even today, Chuc is one of the few in the area who sells cement by the pound, making it easier for folks to gradually invest in their home projects. The mayor of San Ignacio, Earl Trapp, often highlights the significant impact Chuc has had on the community.

 

Earl Trapp, Mayor, San Ignacio

“He sells sand by bucket, and, a pvc pipe, the length, he sells it by feet as well. So he makes things affordable for people that only needs three feet of pipe, you don’t wanna buy one length of pipe and then just waste the rest. So when he would make sure that he provides for the needy people. So I think certainly it’s impacted Saint Ignacio Santa Elena and the surrounding villages because, on weekends and even during the week, but especially on weekends, you would see buses park in front of his place and the customers getting their goods by sack and take it into the bus and they would go to the villages. He served the community well.”

While the Juan Chuc store is no longer as big as it once was, the namesake is still well loved.

 

Maritza Manzanero

“His heart is of gold. Many people have chanced him, I know. And he doesn’t even talk about it. Like he used to have this shop with whatever you needed, like zincs, the roofing things and whatever you need, tiles you would go and he would even give you credit and people like wouldn’t even pay him. And do you think he would be looking for them? He said everything is in God’s hands.”

 

Chuc says his business is on the rise again, taking him back to the early days of his journey nearly forty-eight years ago. Despite the ups and downs, he’s content with what he’s achieved in his career, even if it’s not quite how everyone remembers it.

 

Juan Chuc

“It is kinda lee hard, but then like how I was sick to me it is very good for keep moving. I can’t walk, so I keep moving and talk to people, to friends and I feel good with that, because it let’s me to know what is going on out there, because I can’t go there. So I feel very good and my business is growing lee bit by lee bit and. And I don’t want to grow big again, but I just want to survive and have something in my table for eat, so I feel very good.”

 

Britney Gordon For News Five