According to The Gazette, H Mart is still planning to bring its massive Asian grocery stock and in-store eats to Colorado Springs. Aiming for construction in the “far north side” of the city in the Victory Ridge commercial development at the southeast corner of InterQuest and Voyager parkways, the proposed 29,000 square-foot food store will be the Denver area’s third H Mart upon completion.
The over 40-year-old chain began in 1982 as a single site in Woodside, Queens, New York City. Founded by Il Yeon Kwon, a South Korean farmer’s son that left his place of birth in the late 1970s when the country, especially its rural areas, were still recovering from civil war (per The New York Times). Since that time, Kwon has grown the grocer into a massive, intercontinental chain serving up a dynamic variety of “upscale” Asian foods to more than 97 stores in the United States (per H Mart). This includes a “diverse” product lineup featuring live crabs and lobsters, tropical fruits, several varieties of noodles, and name brand Asian staples. This is in addition to a “broad range of Western groceries,” and food halls that extend a dynamic selection of Asian eats to shoppers. Makes sense then that H Mart’s moniker is short for “Han Ah Reum,” meaning “one arm full of groceries.”
Brendon Choi, general affairs manager for H Mart’s two existing locations in Aurora and Westminster, as well as the coming Springs store, told What Now Denver that the design and permitting process are still in the works. While there is no timetable yet for completion or opening the Asian foods grocery, H Mart hopes to begin construction sometime in 2023.
When you go to the H Mart website, both Denver locations are not listed. I wondered If the same company owns them.