H Mart
This NY-based Korean grocer and food court giant is putting the "super" back in OC supermarkets
Although H Mart began operating U.S. stores with its first Queens, NY location in 1982, and has continued to have a presence at Irvine’s Diamond Jamboree since 2008, the Korean supermarket chain’s ambition and potential weren’t obvious in Orange County until 2022 – the date when it opened the first of two truly super markets in former Albertsons locations. Playing dance music on the PA system while offering hundreds of boxes of heavily discounted produce and seafood, the Irvine Westpark store’s opening kicked off what has felt like a new era for the chain: an opportunity to win customers away from traditional supermarkets with groceries, then keep them inside for a meal.
With five total Orange County locations, the newest H Mart stores combine clean food halls (dubbed H Market Eatery) with amazing individual departments, including a dedicated area for ready-to-eat Korean banchan side dishes, massive stacks of imported fresh fruits, and always clean, luxuriously appointed seafood displays. With nearly endless aisles of imported drinks, frozen treats, noodles, spices, snacks, and kitchen essentials, these stores sprawl in ways the Diamond Jamboree location can’t match, while actually having enough parking spaces to accommodate more than 20 cars at a time.
Two years after the second Irvine store’s opening, it feels like a success – though a somewhat qualified one. The expansive food hall’s original nine new restaurants have already seen considerable turnaround, with roughly half the vendors disappearing (and mostly being replaced), though some of the others (particularly Tous les Jours bakery) have become as much a part of the store as its departments. Early crowds have decreased enough to make visiting the store manageable throughout the day, but also reduced foot traffic in the foot hall to sometimes concerning levels.
We suspected that H Mart would show up with discounts, steeply raise its prices, and lose whatever good will it had generated during its launch. Though everyone’s dealing with inflation, major gouging doesn’t appear to have happened at this chain, and it increasingly feels like a valuable part of the community it joined. We’re looking forward to seeing how the new stores (and old ones) evolve moving forward, as they have plenty of potential left to impress.
Stats
Price: $-$$
Service: None
Open Since: 1982 (Queens, NY)
Addresses
3825 Alton Pkwy.
Irvine, CA 92606
949.265.8585
Instagram: @hmartofficial