For a long time, it felt like there were none of the giant Asian markets/restaurants/shops you find in SoCal here in the East Bay.
And now, all of a sudden, there are lots of them. Tokyo Central opened to huge crowds in Emeryville. Osaka Marketplace is coming to Pleasant Hill.
And now, a new–and even more hotly anticipated–Asian megamart is coming to another town in the 925.
The popular Korean supermarket chain H Mart is set to open its long-awaited East Bay location in Dublin later this month, marking the company’s first store in the broader Tri-Valley and Contra Costa region.
For many local shoppers who have previously had to drive to San Jose or San Francisco, the arrival of H Mart will bring a massive selection of Asian groceries, fresh seafood, prepared foods, and specialty ingredients much closer to home.
The new H Mart will open on March 26 at 7884 Dublin Boulevard, where it will serve as the anchor tenant at the Dublin Retail Center. The store is expected to operate daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m..
Plans for the store date back several years. City officials first began reviewing proposals to convert a former hardware store into a grocery market as early as 2022, and residents have been speculating about the opening date ever since.
Founded in 1982 in Queens, New York, H Mart has grown into one of the largest Asian supermarket chains in the United States, with nearly 100 stores nationwide.
The chain is known for an extensive selection of Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Southeast Asian ingredients. It’s also known for rare (in America anyway) herbs and veggies, fresh seafood, and imported snacks.
Many locations also feature bakeries, prepared foods, and beauty or home goods.
In recent years, H Mart has expanded well beyond its original Korean-American customer base, attracting shoppers from many different backgrounds.
The Dublin location will also include a food hall featuring multiple vendors, offering dishes like Korean fried chicken, soft tofu soup, Korean-style corn dogs, and the popular galbijjim specialty from Daeho.
That combination of grocery shopping and casual dining has become a hallmark of newer H Mart locations and is part of the reason they often draw large crowds on opening week.
As with Tokyo Central, locals are expecting lines for weeks–maybe even months–once H Mart opens in Dublin.
The Dublin store is part of a broader push by H Mart to expand its presence in Northern California. The company already operates stores in San Francisco and San Jose, and another massive location — expected to be the largest H Mart in the United States — is planned for Fremont’s Pacific Commons shopping center.
The arrival of H Mart also reflects demographic and economic changes in the Tri-Valley region.
Dublin was the fastest-growing city in California between 2010 and 2020, and Asian residents now make up the city’s largest demographic group, helping drive demand for international grocery stores and restaurants.
We’ll let you know as soon as it opens–and we’ll be sure to visit and try it out! Make sure to join our free 925 News newsletter so we can let you know when it’s open.
