Tocumbo's paletería business model (1940s)
In the 1940s, entrepreneurs in Tocumbo, Michoacán, built a business model around family-run ice cream parlors. Profits from one small shop financed the next, and the model spread until thousands of La Michoacana shops dotted Mexico and the United States.
La Michoacana shops spread across Mexico and into the US, with most tracing roots to Tocumbo.
A giant popsicle statue now marks the town, and the family-financed expansion model still drives new locations.
Paleteria Mich Tocumbo's name and recipes claim that Tocumbo heritage. The Albemarle Rd permit is the same family-expansion pattern playing out in Charlotte.
