The largest Asian grocery chain in the U.S. will soon open a new North Texas location.
Korean supermarket H Mart will open at 2534 Royal Lane in Dallas’ Koreatown after the city approved $3.5 million in incentives last week. Incentives include a $2.5 million economic development grant and up to $1 million in sales tax incentives.
The New Jersey-based chain operates nearly 100 stores across the U.S. that don’t sell just groceries. Supermarket locations also feature kitchenware, home goods, beauty products, some clothing, toys and other household knickknacks. Some locations include attached food courts.
Dallas City Council member Omar Narvaez said the project is seven years in the making during Wednesday’s city council meeting.
“H Mart is not just a grocery store,” Narvaez said. “H Mart is an experience. They have other stores inside of H Mart, not just the grocery. They typically have banks, shoe stores, hair salons, gadget stores, boba tea, you name it, they’ve got it inside of their stores.”
Construction on the 70,000-square-foot project is expected to begin in January and conclude by December 2025, according to city documents. Under the agreement, H Mart must operate at the Royal Lane location for at least 15 years.
“This (H Mart) is going to be unique because this is an old shopping center there on Royal Lane in the heart of Koreatown,” Narvaez said during the meeting. “It’s totally needed to be revamped, and this is the perfect time for us to do this.”
In what is expected to be a $28 million project, H Mart will gut the existing building and add a second floor. The grocery store will operate out of the first floor and turn the second floor into office space.
“This is exciting for this area as we’re in desperate need of office space as well,” Narvaez said. “Inside of the parking lot will get redone. There’s an opening for a sidewalk to become a trail that will end up hitting an area where more walkability will be able to be increased.”
H Mart has nearby locations in Carollton and Plano. The Carollton location is about 35 miles from downtown Fort Worth. This means the Dallas location, at just over 31 miles, could be a bit closer to some Cowtown residents.
H Mart first opened in New York in 1982 under the name “Han Ah Reum,” which is Korean for the phrase, “One arm full of groceries.”
