In non-Asian countries, an Asian supermarket largely describes a category of grocery stores that focuses and stocks items and products imported from countries located in the Far East (e.g. East , Southeast and South Asia ).
25-655: Wing Yip is a Chinese supermarket chain founded by Woon Wing Yip in England in 1970. The original Birmingham store also serves as its headquarters and national distribution centre. The company has superstore branches in Manchester , Croydon and Cricklewood . In addition, the company has expanded into wholesale and export (international trade) and real estate development and management by situating its stores within larger commercial centres. Its tofu -based meat substitutes have been popular due to vegan diets since
50-440: A Piggly Wiggly supermarket. It was built in an L shape with dedicated parking space for shoppers in the front, a novelty at the time. The center still exists as of 2020, anchored by a Target store and measuring 50,400 square feet (4,680 m ). The smaller variety is more common and often located at the intersection of major streets in residential areas; it caters to a small residential area. This type of strip mall or plaza
75-655: A 40-foot (12 m) granite pagoda to the City of Birmingham . Wing Yip's online shopping site was launched in 2004; it includes recipes, cooking and dining information. It primarily served UK consumers. In 2005, Wing Yip was exhibited at the International Food Exhibition in London. The Wing Yip Group operates from four freehold sites covering 16.3 acres (6.6 ha) and employs around 300 staff. Asian supermarket These stores go further than
100-722: A Singaporean drink in Japan and vice versa, when they are both Asian countries. Most of these supermarkets are started and operated by Asian immigrant entrepreneurs and their families. Others are started by investors of existing corporate conglomerates already headquartered in Asia, namely Mainland China , Hong Kong , Japan , the Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , and Taiwan . Asian supermarkets can range from small mom-and-pop grocery stores to large big-box stores and may cater specifically to one ethnic Asian immigrant group or to
125-776: A single particular Asian cultural group, many also additionally caters to other Asian immigrant groups who do not have easy access to foodstuffs from their country of origin. These are prevalent in Asian enclaves in the United States and Canada. Urban centers such as New York City , Los Angeles , Washington, D.C. , San Diego , Chicago , Houston , Dallas , Atlanta , San Francisco , Philadelphia , St. Louis , and Seattle have Chinatowns , Little Indias , Little Saigons , Koreatowns , or Japantowns and other ethnic neighborhoods with specialty small business, but surrounding areas or smaller cities will have Asian supermarkets providing
150-524: A specialist Chinese grocery in Digbeth , Birmingham . In 1977, Lee Sing Yap joined Wing Yip and Sammy. Together, they open a Manchester store on Faulkner Street, and a second Manchester store opens on Addington Street in 1978. In 1996, the Birmingham site grew to 7 acres (2.8 ha) with the purchase and development of further land, including a public road. In 1998, Wing Yip and his brothers donated
175-831: A typical quintessential supermarket in that they sell general merchandise, goods, and services related to specific Asian countries of origin, immigrant communities or the ethnic enclave that the store may be located in. They would also often tend to diversify by carrying products from other fellow Asian countries; Japanese supermarkets would carry some Chinese , Indonesian , Korean and Singaporean products; Korean supermarkets carry some Chinese and Japanese products; Taiwanese supermarkets carry Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai , Vietnamese products, and so on. Asian supermarkets carry items and ingredients generally well-suited for Asian cuisines and simply not found or considerably more expensive in most Western supermarkets, due to low turnover and small quantities. While it primarily caters to
200-763: A wide pan-Asian crowd. They serve the generally unserved or underserved immigrant and descendant population. They are usually the main attraction for food shopping within overseas Asian shopping malls and Chinatowns . Asian supermarkets may re-occupy older buildings formerly anchored by mainstream regional or national supermarket chains. Chinese shopping centers and supermarkets have been constructed using traditional Chinese architecture , and provide services catered toward immigrant customers. Examples include Asian restaurants , beauty salons , bakeries , foreign film rental stores , travel agencies , book stores , and other businesses. In recent years, some mainstream markets have attempted to compete with Asian supermarkets for
225-415: Is comparable to other American supermarket chain stores. Among the largest of these chains is H Mart , which has 66 locations. Major chains include: Due to concentration of immigrant communities in metropolitan areas, few Asian supermarket chain stores are located in non-metro areas. In order to better compete and serve this market, a few of these chains have begun online sales, which compete directly with
250-440: Is found in nearly every city or town in the United States and Canada; it is service-oriented and may contain a grocery store , hair salon , dry cleaner , laundromat , small restaurant , discount stores , variety stores , and similar stores such as a general store , toy store , pet store , jewelry store , mattress store, convenience store , thrift shop , or pawn shop . In the past, pharmacies were often located next to
275-705: Is less common except for seafood. Chinese supermarkets may also carry Japanese products but the range of selection would be very limited as compared to a Japanese supermarket. For example, for green tea, in a Japanese market, an entire aisle may be dedicated to it, stocking a wide variety and grades of regional loose-leaf teas, whereas the Chinese market may simply carry a few brands of Japanese tea bags and bottled teas, while focusing on chrysanthemum tea. Though most Asian supermarkets tend to be neighborhood-oriented, small and independent and may carry similar or even identical names, many large chains of stores have floor area that
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#1732787846291300-525: The Netherlands stock items from Suriname aimed at the large Surinamese communities of Indian and Javanese origins found in the country. Despite sourcing from many multiple nations, items stocked are very different depending on their target ethnic market. For example, in Chinese and Vietnamese supermarkets it is common for animal meat to be hung on hooks for display; in Japanese supermarkets this
325-865: The Southern California Chinatowns and Vietnamese markets anchoring communities such as Little Saigon . Strip mall A strip mall , strip center , strip plaza or simply plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America and Australia where the stores are arranged in a row, with a footpath in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. Many of them face major traffic arterials and tend to be self-contained with few pedestrian connections to surrounding neighborhoods. Smaller strip malls may be called mini-malls , while larger ones may be called power centers or big box centers . In 2013, The New York Times reported that
350-541: The high street in the UK or main street in Ireland. Retail parks have become popular due to the widespread use of cars and the ability to park close to the shops as opposed to restricted parking on high streets, many of which are pedestrianised . In Australia "strip shops" or "shopping centre" describes a line of independent shops and buildings along the principal streets of a city or suburban area, which are not set back from
375-675: The 2010s. The founder, Woon Wing Yip , was a Hakka born in Dongguan County , Guangdong , China , in 1937. He arrived in the United Kingdom from Hong Kong in 1959 by boat with € 10. He later opened a restaurant in a former tea shop in Clacton-on-Sea , followed by three restaurants and two takeaways in the East Anglia region. In 1968, he was joined by his brother, Sammy Yap. In 1970, Wing Yip and Sammy opened
400-435: The United States had 65,840 strip malls. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal wrote that in the United States, despite the continuing retail apocalypse that started in around 2010, investments and visitor numbers were increasing to strip malls. In the United Kingdom and Ireland such malls are called retail parks or retail outlets. They are usually located on the outskirts of towns and cities, and serve as an alternative to
425-539: The United States is usually anchored on one end by a big box retailer, such as Walmart, Kohl's , or Target, and/or by a large supermarket like Kroger , Publix or Winn-Dixie on the other. They are usually referred to as power centers in the real estate development industry because they attract and cater to residents of an expanded population area. The categories of retailers may vary widely, from electronics stores to bookstores to home improvement stores , dollar stores , and boutiques . There are typically only
450-591: The area in the 1920s. The 1973 oil crisis bankrupted many gas stations, freeing up their corner lots for redevelopment. La Mancha developers built the first modern-style mini-mall – a few stores with parking in front – in Panorama City, Los Angeles in 1973, with over 600 to follow in the metropolitan area. The proliferation of mini-malls from that time into the 1980s led to a 1988 anti-mini-mall ordinance in Los Angeles. The other variety of strip mall in
475-622: The establishment of Pan-Asian goods in a one-stop shop with aisles selling foods in common and others dedicated to other groups such as Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Vietnamese, Thai, Taiwanese, Korean, and others. Some Asian supermarkets in Australia and the United States also stock Pacific food items aimed at the Pacific Islander communities in those countries. Similarly, some Asian supermarkets in
500-461: The grocery stores, but are now often free-standing or contained within the anchor tenant (e.g. Walmart , Target) or grocery store. Gas stations , banks , and other businesses also may have their own free-standing buildings in the parking lot of the strip center. The mini-mall in Los Angeles is seen as the descendant of the drive-in markets with multiple independent vendors that appeared in
525-445: The likes of general online e-commerce merchandisers such as Amazon.com , Walmart.com , Shopee and Rakuten . Major operators in Asia such as AEON , Don Quijote (Don Don Donki) and Jusco operate somewhat like Asian supermarkets, as they offer products not normally found in their home countries; as such they also serve as a platform for selling regional Asian cuisines and foods from their origin country. An example would be selling
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#1732787846291550-533: The major redevelopments highlighted in the press has been Buford Highway in the Atlanta suburb of Doraville, Georgia , where Asian supermarkets have done brisk business in a once-blighted neighborhood. Such supermarkets have also revitalized the once-rundown sections of Bellaire Blvd in Houston, Texas , and turned it into a thriving new Asian shopping district. There are also many competing Chinese supermarkets in
575-580: The minority customer base by stocking certain Asian goods as well as directing marketing towards various Asian ethnic immigrant populations. Conversely, some Asian supermarkets attempt to appeal to the general population. Asian markets are reputed to have lower prices than the mainstream chains. Asian supermarkets represent a new trend in which Asian immigrants no longer settle in old enclaves such as Chinatown, San Francisco but in suburbs where shopping centers provide services as well as cultural amenities, such as hosting ethnic festivals, shows and dance. One of
600-665: The pavement (footpath) and do not have dedicated car parking spaces. Strip malls and retail parks often range in size from 5,000 square feet (460 m ) to over 100,000 square feet (9,300 m ). In the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) classification of shopping centers , U.S. and Canadian strip malls may fit the definition of: Note that ICSC classifications vary slightly for Europe as well as for Asia Pacific. The Park and Shop in Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C. opened in 1930, anchored by
625-412: The same but reduced amenities for the same purposes. Sometimes, these markets are surrounded by an Asian-themed strip mall . The markets are generally ethnocentric and may be mainly Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese or Filipino market; however, in many areas such supermarkets cater to a more diverse Asian population as a means of diversification and Pan-Asian cooperation. It is this diversity that led to
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