 | |
| Company type | Korean supermarket |
|---|---|
| Industry | Grocery |
| Founded | 2002; 23 years ago (2002) Washington, D.C. |
| Founder | David Min Sik Kang |
| Headquarters | Washington metropolitan area |
Area served | Maryland,Virginia |
| Owner | Man Min Corporation |
New Grand Mart is aKoreansupermarket chain primarily located in theWashington, D.C. metropolitan area and theGreater Richmond Region, formerly having had locations inNorth Carolina andGeorgia. It was founded in 2002 by David Min Sik Kang, aKorean-American entrepreneur who originally owned small Korean grocery stores inWashington, D.C. Grand Mart was owned byAnnandale, Virginia-based Man Min Corporation prior to its disestablishment; in 2013, Green Paradise Enterprises bought two former Grand Mart locations in theWashington, D.C. metropolitan area and rebranded the chain as New Grand Mart.[1]
New Grand Mart provides a wide selection of Korean andEast Asian groceries and freshproduce. Depending on the location of the store, it also offers varying amounts of Asian,Latino,African and traditionalAmerican groceries. Some stores advertise in theSpanish language media as "Mercado Grande," and have signs in English, Spanish and Korean. Nevertheless, all New Grand Martsupermarkets retain a strong Korean flavor, which include in-store Koreanbakeries and video rental shops which rent outDVDs of television shows fromSouth Korea.[2]
Grand Mart's final store to open in the Washington area opened inFrederick, Maryland in 2013. In mid-2008, Grand Mart closed its Security Square Mall location, the only store it had in the Baltimore area. In October 2014, Grand Mart closed its Frederick location.[3]
Grand Mart attempted to expand outside of the Washington area, including more locations in Georgia and North Carolina, and planned stores inTexas andNew York. InChicago, it purchased eight formerCub Foods locations. However, the Grand Mart format was not successful in the Chicago area, and the four stores that were opened (Bedford Park, Chicago,Melrose Park andNiles) subsequently closed.[4] After the closure of the Chicago-area Grand Mart stores, plans for downstate independent grocerNiemann Foods to expand into the Chicago market by acquiring several of the shuttered Grand Mart stores fell through. The Chicago location (at North and Cicero Avenues) is now aFood 4 Less store while the Bedford Park location is now anArt Van Furniture. The Melrose Park location later became aMeijer (which closed on June 17, 2017) and the Niles location is now a Fresh Farms Market.
New Grand Mart has stores in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., most of which are targeted primarily toward theKorean American community, which is concentrated heavily inFairfax andMontgomery counties.