H-Mart Aurora, CO

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H-Mart Aurora, CO

Post by storewanderer »

H-Mart has this location in Aurora, CO; it has been there for close to 10 years. It looks like they took over a former Cub and basically just moved in and stocked it. So the layout of the place is still like a Cub. Kind of run down, parking lot in tough shape.

They basically made these changes:
Removed deli-made it all seafood
Removed bakery-made it a cafeteria
Removed about 2/3 of the aisles horizontally on the side of the store where frozen would have been, and installed a kitchen goods department.

All of the old refrigeration, freezers, etc. - still there from Cub. I think they switched some refrigerators to freezers. This actually made for a good conversion as they have a ton of frozen seafood and other frozen food.

This H-Mart has its own website https://www.myhmart.com/
Not sure who owns this store but it is different from the other H-Marts I've been to in terms of how it is merchandised and its offer.

They also have a Loyalty card good only with the 2 CO Stores. Spend $5,000 get a $10 reward?

Produce area gives a bad first impression with giant bins of fruits, half of the bins seemed rotten. Some bins had fresh product. Vegetable area was the same way, giant displays, half of the stuff seemed rotten. The problem here is if it was rotten, it was an entire SKU of rotten stuff. Like they just get in too big of a shipment of various fruits, eggplants, tomatoes, you name it, and then dump it out there and after it doesn't sell since they order way too much, then just let it sit rotten for days. Then eventually they get a new big shipment in, clear out all the rotten stuff, and put out way more than they need again and let the pattern repeat itself. What was fresh looked great. Produce bags are printed with H-Mart name and the store address there in Aurora. Odd a "chain" would print produce bags up for one single location with its address on the produce bag. If this store even is part of a "chain." This produce area probably had 5x the product on display it needs. They should try to not display so much so they don't have so much rotten produce on display.

The first couple aisles of the grocery area I walked was mostly American type foods, oddly assorted and oddly priced. They are supplied by Associated Utah (???). The other aisles are Asian items and this was well assorted, had some promotions, endcaps that looked nice, and was actually pretty good. The aisle with the Ramen was interesting (a whole aisle) as they had cases of it displayed on the bottom shelf then the loose packages for the respective cases on the top shelf. Good set up, and they certainly have the space for it.

Noticed ads at checkout for gift certificates (paper gift certificates); they don't offer gift cards. Register system is something very weird, possibly the same those what seem to be fake H-Marts in OR/WA use, have never seen it before. Some print in different language. Odd spellings on the pinpad prompts. Plastic bag had H-Mart logo and advertised them as the largest Asian food chain in North America (no store address like the produce bag) so that obviously came from the official chain.
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Re: H-Mart Aurora, CO

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: September 11th, 2022, 11:08 am H-Mart has this location in Aurora, CO; it has been there for close to 10 years. It looks like they took over a former Cub and basically just moved in and stocked it. So the layout of the place is still like a Cub. Kind of run down, parking lot in tough shape.

They basically made these changes:
Removed deli-made it all seafood
Removed bakery-made it a cafeteria
Removed about 2/3 of the aisles horizontally on the side of the store where frozen would have been, and installed a kitchen goods department.

All of the old refrigeration, freezers, etc. - still there from Cub. I think they switched some refrigerators to freezers. This actually made for a good conversion as they have a ton of frozen seafood and other frozen food.

This H-Mart has its own website https://www.myhmart.com/
Not sure who owns this store but it is different from the other H-Marts I've been to in terms of how it is merchandised and its offer.

They also have a Loyalty card good only with the 2 CO Stores. Spend $5,000 get a $10 reward?

Produce area gives a bad first impression with giant bins of fruits, half of the bins seemed rotten. Some bins had fresh product. Vegetable area was the same way, giant displays, half of the stuff seemed rotten. The problem here is if it was rotten, it was an entire SKU of rotten stuff. Like they just get in too big of a shipment of various fruits, eggplants, tomatoes, you name it, and then dump it out there and after it doesn't sell since they order way too much, then just let it sit rotten for days. Then eventually they get a new big shipment in, clear out all the rotten stuff, and put out way more than they need again and let the pattern repeat itself. What was fresh looked great. Produce bags are printed with H-Mart name and the store address there in Aurora. Odd a "chain" would print produce bags up for one single location with its address on the produce bag. If this store even is part of a "chain." This produce area probably had 5x the product on display it needs. They should try to not display so much so they don't have so much rotten produce on display.

The first couple aisles of the grocery area I walked was mostly American type foods, oddly assorted and oddly priced. They are supplied by Associated Utah (???). The other aisles are Asian items and this was well assorted, had some promotions, endcaps that looked nice, and was actually pretty good. The aisle with the Ramen was interesting (a whole aisle) as they had cases of it displayed on the bottom shelf then the loose packages for the respective cases on the top shelf. Good set up, and they certainly have the space for it.

Noticed ads at checkout for gift certificates (paper gift certificates); they don't offer gift cards. Register system is something very weird, possibly the same those what seem to be fake H-Marts in OR/WA use, have never seen it before. Some print in different language. Odd spellings on the pinpad prompts. Plastic bag had H-Mart logo and advertised them as the largest Asian food chain in North America (no store address like the produce bag) so that obviously came from the official chain.
My understanding is they operate like a franchise, but the "franchisees" are basically all family members that "own" and operate each location. That Colorado website says it is "Har Mart" at the bottom, not "H-Mart.". It seems like they will lease whatever building is available regardless of size if it is in the correct area for them, then they try to find someone to run the store. Hence they're fast to announce new locations but then they sit vacant sometimes for years before they open, and while some stores are fully remodeled in lavish fashion others basically get a coat of paint and cheap wallpaper print decor while reusing existing equipment. Their operation is so inconsistent it is hard to call it a chain. There is a location that opened in a former Ralphs in Cerritos (Artesia? Lakewood? Location is where all those cities meet) that looks like they just bought the most glaring, cheap clear tube LED lights imaginable and popped them onto the existing fixtures, created a bunch of cheap drywall boxes on the front wall for other stores to sublease, and bought some used fish tanks then opened the doors. Worst of all they removed about four aisles of gondola and built a fenced off stockroom on the sales floor right behind the produce. A truly horrible idea considering the boxes and pallets are ideal for harboring vermin. Store is practically brand new and feels like it has been run into the ground and neglected for decades. Truly a horrible store. Then they have a location in Garden Grove that is in a very small old Alpha Beta. This old building has been perfectly maintained and upgraded including a high quality polished concrete floor and nice lighting. Although the operator stupidly creates the Food4Less/Winco "funnel" of aisles at the front but merchandises all the produce there (making it impossible to shop without getting plowed by incoming traffic and shopping carts) the rest of the store is meticulously clean, smells good, has beautiful looking meat available, and generally is an outstanding operation on what would otherwise be an ancient old building.

They basically need to operate like a real chain instead of a network of mom and pops.
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Re: H-Mart Aurora, CO

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: September 12th, 2022, 1:38 pm

My understanding is they operate like a franchise, but the "franchisees" are basically all family members that "own" and operate each location. That Colorado website says it is "Har Mart" at the bottom, not "H-Mart.". It seems like they will lease whatever building is available regardless of size if it is in the correct area for them, then they try to find someone to run the store. Hence they're fast to announce new locations but then they sit vacant sometimes for years before they open, and while some stores are fully remodeled in lavish fashion others basically get a coat of paint and cheap wallpaper print decor while reusing existing equipment. Their operation is so inconsistent it is hard to call it a chain. There is a location that opened in a former Ralphs in Cerritos (Artesia? Lakewood? Location is where all those cities meet) that looks like they just bought the most glaring, cheap clear tube LED lights imaginable and popped them onto the existing fixtures, created a bunch of cheap drywall boxes on the front wall for other stores to sublease, and bought some used fish tanks then opened the doors. Worst of all they removed about four aisles of gondola and built a fenced off stockroom on the sales floor right behind the produce. A truly horrible idea considering the boxes and pallets are ideal for harboring vermin. Store is practically brand new and feels like it has been run into the ground and neglected for decades. Truly a horrible store. Then they have a location in Garden Grove that is in a very small old Alpha Beta. This old building has been perfectly maintained and upgraded including a high quality polished concrete floor and nice lighting. Although the operator stupidly creates the Food4Less/Winco "funnel" of aisles at the front but merchandises all the produce there (making it impossible to shop without getting plowed by incoming traffic and shopping carts) the rest of the store is meticulously clean, smells good, has beautiful looking meat available, and generally is an outstanding operation on what would otherwise be an ancient old building.

They basically need to operate like a real chain instead of a network of mom and pops.
I wondered what Har Mart was, so that is not the corporate name for the entire chain? A lot of the stores on the main H-Mart website that has CA, NY, TX, AZ, are set up as their own LLC each individual store.

So this Har Mart opened in Westminster, CO too in a real beat up old Albertsons in the past few years. They seem to have done some remodeling in there. But the decor and fixtures look completely different from what is used in CA. You would think even if these are owned by different family members they would have some kind of synergy going in terms of helping each other out with fixtures and store decor? Also this Westminster thing just kept service seafood in the old Albertsons butcher block space and did not expand it, and has more self service meat than I've ever seen in an Asian supermarket. I guess they did not have the money to do a proper reconfiguration of the departments after having to re-fixture this whole store since Albertsons LLC would have auctioned off all of the equipment (this was one of the closures by LLC around 2011 or 2012; VERY run down store and sat vacant for a while).

I thought H-Mart got a similar era Albertsons in Portland area to Westminster, and went looking for it. In the process of doing that I found they opened a weird non-grocery store in Beaverton, OR which is now closed:
3482 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR 97005
No clue what they were doing there... or why...?
Upon further examination in Beaverton they do have a store that sells groceries, but it is called G Mart instead of H Mart:
3975 SW 114th Ave, Beaverton, OR 97005
What a store that is... cannot believe that is part of anything that remotely deems itself a chain. I see H Mart promotion signs all over. Appears to be the same IT I saw in Denver.
No clue what this operation is doing or why.

Also whatever owns the H Mart Pacific Northwest seems to have a bunch of unrelated businesses including a Ramada Hotel and a hispanic store called Campeon Market: Campeon Market appears to be a barely remodeled former Albertsons - Haggen in Federal Way. Looks like there was a Campeon Market in a real beat up old independent in Auburn, WA (not a great neighborhood there and low traffic) from about 2019-2021 but they did go ahead and close that. Very weird operation.
https://www.hmartus.com/about-us

Also looking further at https://www.hmartus.com/about-us they show a store in Honolulu. No address for it.
Meanwhile at the website for what appears to be the most legitimate H-Mart group they show two addresses in Honolulu ...
https://www.hmart.com/storelocator/index/index/id/93 ...
https://www.hmart.com/storelocator/index/index/id/73/
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Re: H-Mart Aurora, CO

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: September 12th, 2022, 8:27 pm
ClownLoach wrote: September 12th, 2022, 1:38 pm

My understanding is they operate like a franchise, but the "franchisees" are basically all family members that "own" and operate each location. That Colorado website says it is "Har Mart" at the bottom, not "H-Mart.". It seems like they will lease whatever building is available regardless of size if it is in the correct area for them, then they try to find someone to run the store. Hence they're fast to announce new locations but then they sit vacant sometimes for years before they open, and while some stores are fully remodeled in lavish fashion others basically get a coat of paint and cheap wallpaper print decor while reusing existing equipment. Their operation is so inconsistent it is hard to call it a chain. There is a location that opened in a former Ralphs in Cerritos (Artesia? Lakewood? Location is where all those cities meet) that looks like they just bought the most glaring, cheap clear tube LED lights imaginable and popped them onto the existing fixtures, created a bunch of cheap drywall boxes on the front wall for other stores to sublease, and bought some used fish tanks then opened the doors. Worst of all they removed about four aisles of gondola and built a fenced off stockroom on the sales floor right behind the produce. A truly horrible idea considering the boxes and pallets are ideal for harboring vermin. Store is practically brand new and feels like it has been run into the ground and neglected for decades. Truly a horrible store. Then they have a location in Garden Grove that is in a very small old Alpha Beta. This old building has been perfectly maintained and upgraded including a high quality polished concrete floor and nice lighting. Although the operator stupidly creates the Food4Less/Winco "funnel" of aisles at the front but merchandises all the produce there (making it impossible to shop without getting plowed by incoming traffic and shopping carts) the rest of the store is meticulously clean, smells good, has beautiful looking meat available, and generally is an outstanding operation on what would otherwise be an ancient old building.

They basically need to operate like a real chain instead of a network of mom and pops.
I wondered what Har Mart was, so that is not the corporate name for the entire chain? A lot of the stores on the main H-Mart website that has CA, NY, TX, AZ, are set up as their own LLC each individual store.

So this Har Mart opened in Westminster, CO too in a real beat up old Albertsons in the past few years. They seem to have done some remodeling in there. But the decor and fixtures look completely different from what is used in CA. You would think even if these are owned by different family members they would have some kind of synergy going in terms of helping each other out with fixtures and store decor? Also this Westminster thing just kept service seafood in the old Albertsons butcher block space and did not expand it, and has more self service meat than I've ever seen in an Asian supermarket. I guess they did not have the money to do a proper reconfiguration of the departments after having to re-fixture this whole store since Albertsons LLC would have auctioned off all of the equipment (this was one of the closures by LLC around 2011 or 2012; VERY run down store and sat vacant for a while).

I thought H-Mart got a similar era Albertsons in Portland area to Westminster, and went looking for it. In the process of doing that I found they opened a weird non-grocery store in Beaverton, OR which is now closed:
3482 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR 97005
No clue what they were doing there... or why...?
Upon further examination in Beaverton they do have a store that sells groceries, but it is called G Mart instead of H Mart:
3975 SW 114th Ave, Beaverton, OR 97005
What a store that is... cannot believe that is part of anything that remotely deems itself a chain. I see H Mart promotion signs all over. Appears to be the same IT I saw in Denver.
No clue what this operation is doing or why.

Also whatever owns the H Mart Pacific Northwest seems to have a bunch of unrelated businesses including a Ramada Hotel and a hispanic store called Campeon Market: Campeon Market appears to be a barely remodeled former Albertsons - Haggen in Federal Way. Looks like there was a Campeon Market in a real beat up old independent in Auburn, WA (not a great neighborhood there and low traffic) from about 2019-2021 but they did go ahead and close that. Very weird operation.
https://www.hmartus.com/about-us

Also looking further at https://www.hmartus.com/about-us they show a store in Honolulu. No address for it.
Meanwhile at the website for what appears to be the most legitimate H-Mart group they show two addresses in Honolulu ...
https://www.hmart.com/storelocator/index/index/id/93 ...
https://www.hmart.com/storelocator/index/index/id/73/
My understanding in Irvine (where one store has been for a decade and two new stores were announced several years ago in former Albertsons, one finally materialized last month but other is still missing in action) is that the original store is corporate owned but the new stores are not. Pricing, merchandise and ad apparently are completely different between the new store and the old one... And they're literally on the same street about two miles apart. This is creating a lot of customer complaints at both stores and similar feedback was mentioned in some reviews. If the 3rd store is a separate franchise as well then they'll have 3 stores in the same city - all within 5 miles of each other - with 3 different ads, assortments, pricing models and store formats. A complete disaster. I still think the original corporate owned store will close eventually as it has a dysfunctional parking and egress situation- although it was clearly a expensive "spare no expense" type setup when it first opened. Pictures I saw of the new store looked like it was just wallpaper over the old Albertsons decor, same old low T-frame ceiling with tiles, and overall a major downgrade in every way except for square footage (which is doubled from the original). H-Mart must have an active company social media team as they quickly uploaded a set of pictures of a prototypical format modern store for the recently opened new store. The corporate pictures however have no resemblance to the store pictures actual customers are uploading.
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Re: H-Mart Aurora, CO

Post by storewanderer »

The Irvine thing is very weird.
Both stores are on the liquor license as a different LLC.

The new store H MART WESTPARK LLC has Officer KWON, ILYEON and Stockholder H MART INC
https://www.abc.ca.gov/licensing/licens ... NSE=627126
The original store H MART IRVINE INC has two other Officers, and then that same KWON, ILYEON who is Officer of new store is the Officer and Stockholder of the old store.
https://www.abc.ca.gov/licensing/licens ... ITY=IRVINE

In looking at photos of both the new and old Irvine Store they appear to be using the same plastic bags as the CO Store used at checkout. Odd they have completely different IT, registers, sale signs, produce bags, yet somehow get the same checkout bags. Those are standard thin bags. I guess they join the various independent stores scattered around CA that continue to dispense thin banned bags. Maybe an extension of COVID policies.

Somehow the logistics must be tied together on these stores.
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