Houston's first major Japanese supermarket expects to open soon.
Seiwa Market announced on its Facebook page that it wants to start selling groceries at the end of July. The nearly 11,000-square-foot supermarket is located in the Ashford Village shopping center, at 1801 Dairy Ashford Road just south of Briar Forest Drive in the Energy Corridor.
"The entire Japanese community is super excited about this store opening here. It is going to be a game changer for all things Japanese, especially with the Ramen Bar Ichi coming next door and another full on Izakaya type restaurant coming on the other side of it (name TBD)," said Susan Kwok Annoura, a local Realtor who specializes in Japanese relocations and who represented the lessee in an email. "I see this being the start of a small 'Japantown' in Houston."
The supermarket will offer a variety of imported Japanese food and goods, and plans to feature a grocery and retail section as well as a food court with a sushi bar.
Hidejiro Matsu — one of the founders of Marukai Corp. U.S.A., a major Japanese supermarket chain based in Gardena, California— was expected to open the new Japanese supermarket in fall 2015, the Houston Business Journal previously reported. The supermarket will enter a small but growing Japanese retail scene in Houston, which includes Nippan Daido, a Japanese mini-mart in Westchase, and Fit, a Japanese household goods store in Chinatown. Daiso California LLC, a unit of Japan-based retailer Daiso Industries Inc., secured its first Houston-area location earlier this year and has more in the works.
Matsu signed an eight-year lease, with two five-year renewal options, for the property in March 2015. David Mafrige, Andrew Clark and George Harsh represented the lessor, David Z. Mafridge Interests, which owns Ashford Village. The financial terms of the lease were not disclosed.
Seiwa recently opened a store in the Los Angeles area and plans to open another soon, according to its website.