Interview: Latina beauty brand Nopalera moves to San Antonio
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Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photo: Courtesy of Amanda Lopez
Nopalera, a premium Latina beauty brand, has moved its headquarters from New York City to San Antonio.
Why it matters: Long overlooked, San Antonio is now attracting new businesses thanks in part to its strong cultural ties and community.
Context: Sandra Velasquez launched Nopalera while living in New York City in 2020. The company sells soaps, lotions, fragrances and more made with nopal, the prickly pear cactus familiar to San Antonio. She took inspiration from her upbringing in San Diego.
- But it never quite made sense for Nopalera to be based in New York City — it was only there because she was, Velasquez tells Axios.
Zoom in: Moving herself and the brand to San Antonio — a top-selling city for Nopalera, alongside cities like Los Angeles and Chicago — just felt natural, Velasquez says.
Zoom out: In San Antonio, shoppers can find Nopalera products at Rancho Diaz, Feliz Modern and Curio at Hotel Emma.
The intrigue: Part of Velasquez's attraction to San Antonio is its lowkey airport — a factor often cited as a business problem for the city, and partly the reason behind an ongoing major overhaul.
- But Velasquez loves that SAT has several flights to nearby Mexico, where she often travels for business.
What's next: In August, Nopalera will be in Ulta Mexico and online with Ulta USA.
- The company is set to double its revenue from last year and expand to more retailers, per Velasquez.
We sat down with Velasquez to talk about the company and its move. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell me about how the company got started and your inspiration for it.
"I wanted Latinas also to see themselves represented in the brand, and see their heritage represented in an elevated way, because I had to that point not seen — I still don't really see — many beauty brands doing that. When you look at all the luxury brands that exist, they're mostly Western European. ... Where are the brands coming from Latin America in the premium space?
- "I knew that Latinos and Latinas spend money in beauty, right? And so why is there nothing that's speaking to them directly?"
Why move to San Antonio now?
"I think the brand makes sense here. ... San Antonio is just so heavily cultural, which is why I chose it. It reminds me of San Diego, I grew up in San Diego. ... There's a whole cultural existence of Mexican Americans and just that bicultural border existence, so I'm just really excited. And San Antonio just has so much cultural celebration — this is not something that you have in other cities.
- "San Antonio feels like a pueblo, but it's a city."
You used to play in a band that had music in "Breaking Bad." What was that experience like?
"Music was my activism. I sang in Spanish, on purpose. The lyrics were very social, political. I sang about immigration. I sang about women's rights. ... The thing I want the most is equality, and that's why I even built this brand. It's not just about the efficacy of making your skin soft.
- "It's about making the world equitable and making Latino heritage on an equal footing as the other premium brands that we have grown up with on a shelf."