Ethnic Supermarkets to Watch

Wondering who's targeting the ethnic customers in your area? It might be ethnic superstores that aim not only for new immigrants and ethnic Americans, but integrated foodies as well. Many stock Jif, Tide and Coca-Cola right next to the masa flour and pickled plums.

Uwajimaya
What: Asian supermarket
Where: Downtown Seattle, suburban Bellevue, Wash., and Beaverton, Ore.
Stats: 50,000-square-foot store; 30 percent non-Asian clientele
Feature: A whole aisle of noodles
Quote: "Mainstreaming is the name of the game. It's food. It's not Chinese, Japanese, Korean," Vice President Tomoko Moriguchi-Matsuno told AdAge.

Fiesta Mart
What: International
Where: Texas
Stats: 49 stores; Houston, Dallas, Austin and Waco
Feature: Spring flier promoted mangoes, Terra Chips, Numi tea and crawfish
Quote: Says the Houston CityGuide: "No whirlwind tour is complete without an excursion to a Fiesta supermarket ... pick up a bag of cinnamon and sugar buñuelos, then wash them down with a cold bottle of tamarind soda."

Han Ah Reum Asian Mart
What: Korean markets with an international flair
Where: 14 markets from New York to Virginia
Stats: Brand-new 54,000-square-foot Super H Mart in Fairfax, Va.
Feature: Mo Mo Rice Cake and Espresso Bar
Quote: "We had this conscious mind-set that there should be a one-stop-for-all store to expand cultural diversity," spokesman Jason Lee told The Washington Post.

Global Foods
What: Asian-Hispanic superstore
Where: Manassas, Va.
Stats: 50 percent of Global's customers are Hispanic, many from southern Mexico
Feature: Piñatas over the checkout stands
Quote: Jessica Alatorre, Hispanic section manager, told The Washington Post: "They want La Morena pickled peppers. They want Coke in glass bottles like they have back home."

99 Ranch Market
What: Asian supermarket
Where: West Coast
Stats: 23 stores, mostly in suburbs of San Francisco and Los Angeles
Feature: Duck tongues for stewing, black silky chickens, seven kinds of bok choy, durian fruit
Quote: "On the fish counter, live silver carp for Shanghainese, striped bass for Taiwanese, galonggong for Filipinos, catfish for Vietnamese, halibut and salmon for the American guys," Seafood Manager Larry Lee told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ranch Markets
What: Hispanic-oriented community market chain
Where: Smaller cities in California, Arizona and Nevada
Stats: Eight stores in cities such as Bakersfield
Feature: 2.5 million tortillas sold per week
Quote: Owner Michael Provenzano Jr. told Retail Merchandiser, "There's this perception and stereotype that you have to be cheap to sell to Hispanic customers. That's not true. ... It's all about fresh food and ingredients and high quality."

—L.E.