H Mart

H Mart was founded in September 1982 by Il Yeon Kwon, a South Korean immigrant, who opened the first store in Woodside, Queens, New York under the name Han Ah Reum — a Korean phrase meaning "one armful of groceries." Kwon's strategy was straightforward: sell authentic Asian groceries, produce, and specialty ingredients in neighborhoods that lacked them, serving immigrant communities who couldn't find the foods they grew up with in mainstream supermarkets. The chain expanded modestly along the East Coast through the 1990s before accelerating nationwide in the 2000s. By the late 2000s the brand officially adopted the shorter "H Mart" name, which had already become the popular nickname since "Han Ah Reum" didn't roll off the tongue easily for non-Korean speakers. Today H Mart is the largest Asian supermarket chain in the United States, headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey, with locations spanning the Northeast, West Coast, South, and Midwest. Each store carries a full range of pan-Asian groceries alongside Western staples, and many feature innovative in-store food halls with prepared foods and restaurant vendors.