Last updated on December 21st, 2016 at 02:42 pm
St. Paul, Minnesota’s Ha Tien grocery has opened its second location—in a former Lunds & Byerlys store on the city’s east side.
The Star Tribune reports that the store at 1959 Suburban Avenue appears to be one of the largest Asian markets in the Twin Cities. Its location, off Interstate 94 at N. Ruth Street, is more convenient to shoppers in the eastern suburbs and western Wisconsin.
As the newspaper reports, “The building opened as a Byerlys in 1971. But as it continued to experience declining sales, Edina-based Lunds & Byerlys Inc. decided to close it in March. It sold the 50,000-s.f. building to the Son and Ne Dao in June for $4.8 million, including about $180,000 worth of equipment.
“At the time, Lunds & Byerlys (CEO) Tres Lund said the firm was happy the building was being picked up by ‘another independent retailer that has a passion for this neighborhood and a proven ability to meet and exceed the needs of their customers.'”
The first Ha Tien was opened by Son Dao and his parents—immigrants from Vietnam—on University Avenue in 1996, when there weren’t many Asian grocery stores in the Twin Cities to serve a growing wave of immigrants.
Son and his wife Ne Dao, who immigrated to the U.S. from Cambodia, met and married in Minnesota and took over the store from Son’s parents.
A grand opening celebration for the new store will be held in February.
Read more about Ha Tien supermarket here.
