H Mart
Native name
한아름 마트, H 마트
TypePrivate company
IndustryGrocery
FoundedSeptember 1982 (1982-09) (as Han Ah Reum)
Woodside, Queens, New York City, US
FounderIl Yeon Kwon
Headquarters
Lyndhurst, Bergen County, New Jersey
,
U.S.
Number of locations
  • 89 (US)
  • 2 (UK)
  • 13 (Canada)
Area served
United States, Canada, United Kingdom
Key people
Il Yeon Kwon (CEO)[1]
Revenue
  • Increase US$1.050 billion (2013)
[2]
Number of employees
5,500[1]
ParentHanahreum Group
Korean name
Hangul
H 마트
Revised RomanizationH mat'ŭ
McCune–ReischauerH mateu
한아름 마트
Hangul
한아름 마트
Revised RomanizationHanareum mateu
McCune–ReischauerHanarŭm mat'ŭ
Websitehmart.com

H Mart (Korean: H 마트 or 한아름 마트) is an American supermarket chain of Asian supermarkets operated by the Hanahreum Group, headquartered in Lyndhurst, Bergen County, New Jersey. The chain has 84 stores throughout the United States, operated variously as H Mart, H Mart Northwest, and H Mart Colorado; two stores in the Pacific Northwest operate as G Mart.[3] It also has stores in Canada and two in the United Kingdom. H Mart is the largest U.S.-based grocery store chain that specializes in Asian-style products and caters to Asian-American shoppers.

The "H" in "H Mart" stands for Han Ah Reum (한아름), a Korean phrase meaning "one arm full of groceries".[4] This phrase translates more literally to "one arm," "Han" meaning "one" in Korean and "Ah Reum" being a transliteration of the English word "arm" in hangeul, the Korean writing system.

History

Super H Mart in Spring Branch, Houston, Texas

The H Mart chain began in 1982 in Woodside, Queens, in New York City, as a small corner grocery store. Subsequent H Marts were operated differently from the original location, which maintained the original Han Ah Reum name and signage until it remodeled in 2023.[5][4][6]

United States

This H Mart store in Edison, New Jersey, features a Tous les Jours bakery inside the store.
H-Mart in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia

From 1982 to 1991, the company added 10 stores, mostly in the Northeastern United States.

In 1997, the company opened its first store in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area, in Falls Church, Virginia. On October 19, 1998, the chain opened its current headquarters in Lyndhurst in Bergen County, New Jersey, the U.S. county with the highest Korean population percentage, at 6.9%.[7]

In 2004, the first Super H Mart opened in Duluth, Georgia. By 2005, the chain had 17 stores; the following March, 22—all on the East Coast except for two stores in Denver, Colorado. Its first West Coast location, in Federal Way, Washington, opened in April 2006.[8]

After its 2001 opening, an H Mart store in northern Virginia gained many Hispanic American employees. After cultural conflicts between Hispanic and Korean American employees in one store, the H Mart headquarters provided an intercultural training program, with translations into Spanish.[9]

In spring 2017, H Mart opened a 43,000-square-foot (4,000 m2) store in San Jose, California.[10][11][12] In summer 2018, H Mart signed a lease for a 42,000-square-foot (3,900 m2) store in San Francisco.[13][14][15]

As of 2021, there were 84 H Mart stores in the United States, located in New York, New Jersey, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.[16]

Canada

H Mart began moving into western Canada in December 2003, with its first store in Coquitlam, British Columbia,[17] a West Coast location that opened ahead of stores in Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.[18] In subsequent years, the company opened stores in Downtown Vancouver and Langley in 2006; Richmond[19] in 2012; and Port Coquitlam in 2016.

In 2013, the company opened its first urban convenience format on Yonge Street and Churchill Avenue in the Toronto-suburb of Willowdale called "M2M–morning to midnight". The two-story, 4,500-square-foot (420 m2) store is the first one in Canada. There are currently three other M2M stores in the U.S., two in Manhattan and one in Seattle.[20][21] A larger H Mart opened on Yonge Street in Richmond Hill, with another opening in Downtown Toronto across from Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) in 2017. In July 2019, an H Mart opened in Edmonton, Alberta, followed by another in Calgary, also in Alberta, in 2020. Another store was opened in Calgary in Beacon Hill, NW Calgary in October 2023.

United Kingdom

H Mart Europe Limited was incorporated in 2009,[22] and in 2011, H Mart opened its first store in Europe, in the New Malden area of London.[23] Smaller stores operate as Oseyo.

Controversies

In 2006, a civil suit was filed against H Mart for discrimination against whites when three tenants of the West Willow Shopping Mall in Willowbrook, Canada, which the company had moved into and then bought, filed a complaint with the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal alleging that the company wanted to turn it into an Asian-only market.[24] All three tenants made the claim when their leases were not renewed despite being long-term lease holders within the mall. In late 2007, tribunal member Lindsay Lyster dismissed their complaint on the grounds that it had no reasonable prospect of success and did not merit a hearing. She wrote:

In the end, I have concluded that the complainants' case is based on little more than conjecture based on what they read in the media and H-Mart's reputation as a "Korean market," as seen through the lens of their own unhappiness in being unable to maintain their businesses in the mall.[25]

In 2012, picketers gathered outside one of the Flushing stores to protest H Mart's hiring practices. Protest organizer Jim MacDonald said the store, and other H Marts nearby, disproportionately hired Asian people and specifically Korean-Americans.[26][27] H Mart responded in a statement that the company "does not screen employees by race, but by their capabilities"; for example, the Flushing store hires many Korean speakers to better serve its many customers who do not speak English.[27]

In 2012, Korean news agencies and government agencies[28] alleged that H Mart laundered money for former South Korean president Chun Doo Hwan,[28] who was convicted of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars during his autocratic rule, and his family.[29][28] In December 2012, Korean news channel TV Chosun reported that "South Korean prosecutors have traced Chun Doo-Hwan's secret funding to H Mart, as they found suspicious money laundering in an account”.[28] In August 2013 TV Chosun retracted earlier claims as unfounded speculations.[30] The station confirmed that H mart was not under investigation in relation to overseas funds connect with former President Chun Doo-Hwan.[30]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Il Yeon-Kwon, 53; Chairman & CEO, HAR Grand ..." Forbes. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Hot 100 Chart 2014". National Retail Federation. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  3. ↑ Mishan, Ligaya (May 14, 2021). "The Lure of H-Mart, Where the Shelves Can Seem as Wide as Asia". The New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Company History". H Mart. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  5. ↑ "The first H Mart ever just reopened in Queens!". Timeout. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  6. ↑ Ortutay, Barbara (February 23, 2005). "Bucks gets an Asian flavor". Bucks County Courier Times. Retrieved July 27, 2011.(subscription required)
  7. ↑ "Timeline". H Mart. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
  8. ↑ Dietrich, Heidi (March 12, 2006). "H-Mart grocery chain to make state debut". Puget Sound Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
  9. ↑ Kang, Cecilia (October 7, 2007). "Koreans, Hispanics Work for Harmony". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  10. ↑ "[Grand opening] Hmart San Jose-Oakland, CA". hmart.com. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Hmart opens its first Korean market in NorCal, plans South Bay expansion". eastbaytimes.com. April 5, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Popular Korean High End Grocery Shop H Mart N San Jose Shop Opens – Silicon Valley Housing Post". siliconvalleyhousingpost.com. March 10, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Beloved Korean Grocer Hmart Coming to San Francisco". eater.com. August 8, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  14. ↑ "After Five-Year Vacancy, Ocean View Shopping Center Gets a Fresh Grocery Store". Ingleside-Excelsior Light. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Asian grocery chain Hmart to open first San Francisco location in Oceanview/Ingleside Heights". hoodline.com. August 8, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Store Locations". H Mart. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  17. ↑ "H Mart Canadian History". Canadian Store History. H Mart. Archived from the original on February 21, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Korean supermarket chain picks B.C. over U.S. west". The Vancouver Sun. October 15, 2007. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  19. ↑ Yong, Benjamin (January 12, 2012). "H-Mart introduces a taste of Korea". Richmond News. Glacier Community Media. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  20. ↑ Kwon, Nancy (June 27, 2013). "H-mart opens urban convenience format in Toronto". Canadian Grocer. Rogers Publishing Limited. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  21. ↑ "M2M: After years of H Mart dreams, Capitol Hill Station's grocery finally arrives". Capitol Hill Seattle Blog. April 15, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  22. ↑ Company information for H MART EUROPE LIMITED (06879552) incorporated 16-04-2009 Archived December 9, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Ukdata.com. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  23. ↑ "H-Mart UK". Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Claim of discrimination against whites dismissed". Langley Advance. canada.com. December 18, 2007. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  25. ↑ Farrell and Farrell obo others (2007),  [1996] HUMAN RIGHTS CODE R.S.B.C., c. 210   (BCHRT)
  26. ↑ MacDonald, Jim (July 25, 2012). "Picket/Protest/Phone H-Mart Supermarket Chain to End Their Racist Hiring Policies". ny121asil @ASilva_NY. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  27. 1 2 Chan, Melissa (October 24, 2012). "Protesters call H-Mart's hiring racist". The Queens Courier. Schneps Publications, Inc. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  28. 1 2 3 4 Kim, Hyun Cheon (2013). "H-mart Denies Chun Doo-Hwan's Secret Funding Allegation". Boston Korea. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  29. ↑ Sang-Hun, Choe (September 10, 2013). "Family of Former South Korean Dictator to Pay His Fines". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  30. 1 2 "[단독] H마트 "경쟁하던 업체에서 유언비어 퍼뜨려"". news.tvchosun.com (in Korean). August 26, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
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