Friends Vivian Lee and Viviane Nguyen were excited to see Utah’s first H Mart, a grocery chain known for its wide selection of Korean and Asian foods, open its doors at 10 a.m. Friday.
“We got here at 9 a.m.,” said Lee, 24, as he shopped in the side dish corner of the 100,000-square-foot supermarket at 1442 W. 9000 South in the West Jordan – the largest among the chain’s at least 97 stores in the United States, and the first of its kind in Utah.
“We’ve been waiting for years for H Mart to open,” Lee said. “So whenever we travel to different states, H Mart is always one of our go-to places. And so, as soon as we saw H Mart open here, we all gathered around. (We) celebrated (and) cried a little, and now we are here.
Nguyen, 22, said: “H Mart has all the foods I love and foods you can’t find in other supermarkets. »
The Vivian(e)s were not alone in their enthusiasm. A line of Asian food fans stretched nearly 30 meters along the store before Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, some of them waiting for an hour.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Officials pose for photos during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the grand opening of H Mart, the newest store in an Asian grocery chain, in West Jordan, Friday June 7, 2024.
When asked what was at the top of their shopping list, Lee and Nguyen both shouted in unison, “marinated raw crab!” » Unfortunately for them, the marinated crab was not ready for sale on opening day.
To Vivian(e)s, H Mart meant more than just a purveyor of nostalgic foods.
“Growing up as a Korean American in Utah for most of my life, it’s been really interesting to see how the Korean community – and the Asian community as a whole – has grown a lot in the over the last two years,” Lee said. “Seeing an H Mart open seems like a great cultural center to me. It’s really comforting to see a safe place, a place of community.
The store’s opening Friday was three years in the making – significantly delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were preparing to open before COVID, so it was delayed for a while,” said Utah store employee Chandler Yoon, speaking in Korean. “We were able to open the store after resolving the supplier issue we were facing due to COVID-19. »
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) People line up for the official grand opening of H Mart, the newest store in an Asian grocery chain, in West Jordan on Friday, June 7, 2024.
Many customers have expressed how long they have been waiting for the Utah H Mart to open.
Younghee Kim, who lives in West Valley City, said in Korean, “I was really tired of waiting. But now I’m so happy that it’s finally open, and it’s like my birthday. There is no better gift.
Sharon Kim, 70 and a 24-year Utah resident, said, also in Korean, that “Koreans have really been waiting for this. It kept getting late, so I waited and waited, and rushed here because it was announced that it was opening. My heart is full. I visited one in California, but was surprised to see that this one is bigger.
H Mart offers a colorful array of Korean items, but it also offers a wide selection of Mexican, European, Japanese and Taiwanese snacks, attracting a diverse portfolio of customers.
“I’ve been waiting since they started construction for it to be open,” said Maylene Devai, 22, who lives in Kearns.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A woman shops during the official opening of H Mart, the newest store of an Asian grocery chain, in west Jordan, Friday, June 7, 2024 .
Harry Guan, 27, who grew up in China, said he wanted to browse the food selection as soon as the store opened. “My wife was just making a comment about the other two major players in the area, both of which are Chinese grocery stores, (that) there definitely aren’t as many options as there are here,” Guan said .
The passionate response from Utahns came as a surprise to H Mart management. Ryan Chung, manager of the Utah store, attributed the first day’s success to the power of social media.
“We couldn’t advertise the opening because we had to open the doors only two days after receiving our permit,” Chung said in Korean.
The 100,000 square feet of space — on the site of a former KMart store — puts the West Jordan store among the largest H Mart in the United States, Chung said. About 30,000 square feet is used for warehouse space and about 50,000 square feet houses the market, he said. The remaining 20,000 square feet, he said, are reserved for future tenants.
“Eight tenants will come into the store and we will have (a) Korean barbecue, restaurants, bakery and boba shop open by October and November,” Chung said.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Leila Ishigaki works as a cashier during the grand opening of H Mart, the newest store of an Asian grocery chain, in West Jordan, Friday, June 7, 2024 .
