Tina Lee (Photo by Nina Huang)
T&T opened its flagship location on Thursday in the Factoria neighborhood of Bellevue, making it the largest Asian supermarket in Washington state. The grand opening was met with overwhelming excitement, as lines stretched out the door and wrapped around the entire building, with eager customers waiting to get inside.
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Founded in Vancouver in 1993 and headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, there are more than 35 stores in Canada.
Penetration into the United States market has been a long time coming for Lee. She took over the company in 2014 from her mother, Cindy Lee, an immigrant from Taiwan and a working mother of three. Cindy’s dream was to help families by bringing the best of Asian fresh food and groceries under one roof. T&T stands for Tina and Tiffany, her two daughters, as well as the initials of two early investors, Tawa Supermarket Inc. and Tung Yee Uni-President Enterprises Corp.
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The 76,000-square-foot location will offer an unrivaled assortment of authentic Asian products, fresh produce, live seafood, Asian beauty products, and an in-store kitchen and bakery.
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Lee knows her target audience and folks couldn’t wait.
“Why the Marketplace at Factoria? Bellevue is a growing city. It’s got a huge range of cultural backgrounds. It’s got great education, great schools, great real estate, and it has accessible transportation across different parts of the city. And most importantly, I wanted to come in big. And 76,000 square feet is damn big,†Lee said.
According to United States census data, 39.5% of Bellevue’s population is Asian.
People shared their excitement on social media. Customers were excited they didn’t have to drive three hours to Canada anymore to shop at T&T. They were also excited for the egg tarts, steam buns, and other hot foods.
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“That’s not just the biggest Asian grocery store in Washington state, it’s the biggest T&T Supermarket in our entire network. So, this is now the biggest Asian grocery in all of North America because I really want to make a statement,†she added.
Several unique features of the T&T Bellevue store include fancy, savory Chinese flower crepe, with over 700 options of Asian beers, wine, and spirits to choose from, as well as grocery tote bags.
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The COVID-19 pandemic postponed the opening of T&T Bellevue by about three years with construction and electrical equipment delays. Lee said that they weathered some of the anti-Asian sentiment challenges as well, but they managed through it the best they could.
Before Bellevue, they opened a location in Quebec where customers waited four hours in line to shop.
“We’re not just a place that sells bananas and bok choy. We are a place that brings community together. It’s a place where you feel belonging. It’s a place where you tie to your cultural heritage. It’s a place where you go to discover new products and new flavors,†Lee said.
Lee added that their prices make the T&T shopping experience great.
“We have been conditioned to push the best value that we possibly can offer at great quality to all of our customers,†Lee said.
Lee added that T&T is where people can share a family experience between generations, especially for East Asian families who are trying to pass their culture such as Lunar New Year or Mid-Autumn Festival to the younger generations.
She incorporated family-friendly features in the stores, such as lowering produce cases so kids can pick fruits themselves while shopping with their parents, or handing out balloons to kids at checkout, and best of all, the toddler-sized shopping carts made just for kids.
In addition, Lee’s cultural background has not only influenced the way she leads the business in an East meets West-style of management, but it has also inspired the Pan-Asian flavors in her bakeries and delis.
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“The passion for food has certainly continued between my mother and myself, we make sure we take the best of both cultures. The best example is the roast turkey; it’s the sticky rice stuffed turkey. That’s like Canadian turkey and Taiwanese sticky rice, it doesn’t get cooler than that,†she said.
Anticipating large crowds, Lee recommended folks visit on Monday if they don’t want to wait in line.
T&T Supermarket is set to open their next U.S. stores in Lynnwood, Washington and San Jose, California next year.
For more information, visit www.tntsupermarket.us.
Nina can be reached at [email protected].Â
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Publish date : 2024-12-06 05:11:00
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