After fire, Modesto’s Asian Market reopens in new site with more space, selection
You know when they say you’re acting like a kid in a candy store? Well, that would be me at the newly reopened Asian Market.
After being closed for more than a year after a fire destroyed their original Carver Road location, the family behind the specialty grocery store is back with a new, much bigger and more high-profile location on McHenry Avenue. The long road to rebuilding was slowed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But now, owner Trong Vuong and his family are ready to unveil their hard labor.
The Asian Market opens Sunday to what will no doubt be relieved loyal customers — some of whom have shopped at the store for decades. Opened 35 years ago by Vuong’s parents, the grocery store offers a wide selection of hard-to-find products from across Asia as well as fresh fish, meat and more.
“People have been asking, ‘When will you reopen, when will you reopen?’ since we had to close from the fire,” Vuong said. “It’s been really hard, but we’re so happy to be ready to welcome people back.”
On June 8, 2019, an early morning fire, that was later discovered to be intentionally set, destroyed the market and four other businesses in the Neighborhood Shopping Center at Carver Road and Roseburg Avenue. Vuong had originally wanted to rebuild in the same spot, but they weren’t able to get the extra space they wanted. So instead they looked for other locations and last November settled on the McHenry Avenue spot that was formerly a cosmetology school.
The space, next to the Dollar Tree, is more than twice as big as their original store. For shoppers that means wider aisles, more products, expanded selections and — at long last — shopping carts. The old space was too small and cramped to allow for carts.
Diverse products from across Asia for sale
If you’re a fan of Asian cuisine, or just good food in general, you’ll be thrilled by the grocery store’s offerings. Asian Market carries products from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and beyond. They’ve more than doubled their freezer and refrigerated aisle space, and added a 40-foot meat and seafood case.
A lot of their merchandise cannot be found in other stores in the city and region. You’ll find boba ice cream and a wide variety of vegan products, a whole aisle just for instant noodles and fresh produce. They also carry housewares from dishes and pots to sushi makers and children’s chopsticks.
First opened in 1985, the market has seen generations of customers, from grandparents to now their grandkids, come through. Vuong’s parents emigrated by boat from Vietnam five years earlier and settled in Modesto. When their shop debuted, it was half grocery store, half pool hall and the first Asian specialty market in Modesto. At the time the Asian community in the valley was relatively small. But now, Vuong said, nearly half their shoppers aren’t Asian and they attract people from across the region.
“When my parents first opened the shop, people weren’t really familiar with Asian products,” he said. “People were like, ‘Ew, those noodles look like worms.’ But now people are more into the cuisine, eating healthy, stir fries and things like that.”
His parents have since retired, though still help out at the shop, and his mother, Nai Truong, will have a special area in the front of the store where she will sell herbal remedies and other products. She recently had heart surgery, and is now recovering at home but is eager to return to the shop, her son said. About four members of the family will work at the store along with about a dozen other employees.
If you’re really lucky you might find Vuong’s youngest child Stella — he has five children ranging in age from 27 to 5 — in the candy aisle perusing the the selections of sweets in almost every color imaginable.
When it reopens Sunday, the store will have COVID-19 protocols in place. Customers must wear masks, and they plan to have some available for those without. And only 55 people will be allowed in at a time while the county remains in the purple tier of outbreak. He said they will have a more formal grand opening Feb. 19 of next year with dragon and Buddha dancers.
Besides slowing down their reopening process, coronavirus has made it harder to source some products and other supplies have had shortages. But the aisles are still packed with an impressive array of delights. From spices to sauces, chilis to mochi and so much more, you might need two carts. I know I will.
Asian Market, 2425 McHenry Ave. Suite A, is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more information call 209-578-0147 or visit www.instagram.com/asianmarketmodesto.
This story was originally published October 10, 2020 at 1:43 PM.
