TAUNTON — HomeTown Furnishings and HomeTown Tacos Locos customers can now buy furniture and grab some authentic Mexican food all in one stop at HomeTown's new location in the former Ray’s Appliance Sales on Broadway.

“We can sell furniture in the store, and we have the taco truck in the parking lot,” owner Omar Cruz said.

“It’s a no-brainer to have both businesses under one roof.”

HomeTown Tacos Locos had been serving customers in a parking lot outside Globe Liquors on Cape Lane.

Meanwhile, HomeTown Furnishings previously leased a storefront in downtown Taunton for seven-and-a-half years from Tux Towne By Bejarano.

“We offer furniture for bedrooms, living rooms and home furnishings,” Cruz said. “We get furniture from Ashley Furniture. It is the biggest furniture company in the U.S., and we resell it for lower prices since we are local and can do better deals.”

Cruz said HomeTown Furnishings is “a retail store like everybody else.”

“We offer to finance to people with credit and those without it," he said.

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HomeTown’s Furnishings products include television stands, dining room tables, wall decorations, home office desks, rugs, cabinets, mattresses, pillows and bureaus.

Ray’s Appliance owner Ray Dumont said HomeTown Furnishings and HomeTown Tacos Locos should “do well because he (Cruz) is young and aggressive.”

“He was fair to me, and I sold him the real estate,” Dumont said. “He has his clientele, and he will have a new sphere to draw from near West Britannia Street, Washington Street and all those streets that go into the core of Whittenton Village.”

Taunton Area Chamber of Commerce President Kris Silva said, “It’s nice to see the torch passing between Ray and Omar.”

“I live in Berkley and went to Ray’s for years, and they had a tremendous reputation,” she said.

HomeTown Furnishings has an affiliate store in Brockton that Omar's brother Ricardo Cruz manages. A grand reopening ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at HomeTown Furnishings in Taunton on Oct. 29.

Tux Towne owner Jose Bejarano said he is happy Cruz was financially able to purchase the former appliance store.

“We will miss him downtown,” he said. “It’s great he had the opportunity to purchase something. It will be good for him.”

Bejarano said the store that Cruz previously leased is an excellent location for businesses to operate.

HomeTown Tacos Locos’ flavors

Cruz said the HomeTown Tacos Locos food truck is unique because it offers Mexican tacos with birria sauce.

“We have big tacos, and we are known for our dip,” he said.

Taunton resident Emily Canavan, 26, said she enjoys ordering tacos and quesadillas, a mix of cheese and meat.

“I came here last weekend, and I came back,” she said.

Some of the meals available at HomeTown Tacos include carne asada steak, carnitas pork, and pollo chicken.

Tacos Locos offers free meals to people in need

Cruz said customers can people with limited finances receive a free meal by purchasing donation receipts.

“People can donate $5, $10 or $20,” he said.

Cruz said free meals are provided to people who tell a clerk they have financial difficulties, and no proof of income is required.

Hometown Tacos Locos clerk Amber Lewis said she likes working for Cruz because he and his brother are U.S. Army veterans "who give back to the community.”

“They are always looking at ways to help out,” she said.

Society Coffee Bar welcomes HomeTown Furnishings, Tacos Locos

Society Coffee Bar owner Keith Viveiros said having Hometown Furnishings and Tacos Locos in the neighborhood will benefit nearby businesses.

“Anytime you bring a popular business into an area with great products, it benefits everybody,” he added.

Viveiros said Society Coffee Bar opened in January and their customers especially enjoy drinking “Quinny," an elevated coffee milk beverage.

“We create it,” he said. “It’s hard to make a milk-based coffee substitute that is not bitter.”

Silva said Society Coffee had brought a lot of new traffic into the business district near the store.

“They have a liquor license and serve specialty coffee cocktails in the evening,” she said. “Society Coffee is very popular on social media. They have all kinds of specialty coffees and pastries.”

Cruz brothers are 'wonderful community partners'

Mayor Shaunna O’Connell said her administration “is thrilled to see HomeTown Furnishings thrive here in Taunton.”

“Seeing businesses open and expand in different areas demonstrates strong economic growth and opportunity,” she said. “We continue to encourage economic development and support local businesses with unique grant opportunities like the Façade Program and Rent Rebate Program that take some financial burdens off local business owners and help them start or improve their businesses. “

O'Connell said, “Omar and Ricardo are wonderful community partners who are invested in our city.”

Cruz said HomeTown Furnishings would continue to support downtown Taunton community events.“We just took part in the Liberty Festival on Church Street,” he said. “We will still do things like that. We plan to attend the Lights On (Christmas) celebration on Dec. 3.”

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton: HomeTown Furnishings and taco food truck move to Broadway