Inside Asheville's new specialty grocery store, Asiana Market

ASHEVILLE - A year after Asiana Grand Buffet closed, a new concept has opened in its place with much more for customers to feast upon.

On Jan. 8, Asiana Market, a locally-owned specialty Asian supermarket, opened to the public at 1968 Hendersonville Road in Asheville.

“Everybody’s been super excited,” said Steven Ar, co-owner of Asiana Market and former owner of Asiana Grand Buffet. “They’d have to drive to Atlanta to find something like this, and now it’s just down the road from them. To be able to carry this many varieties of options for them is so convenient.”

The store's size, inventory volume and diverse offerings set Asiana Market apart from other local retail stores.

The store sells various types of rice, noodles, syrups, lemongrass, coffee, teas, spices, soy sauces and many more dry and fresh food items and beverages, in addition to household goods, cookware, rice cookers, and serving ware from chopsticks to dishes to cleaning products.

One of the objectives of Asiana Market is to provide for diverse customer demographics and to give customers more options, he said.

“We try to cater to all of Asia – Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Filipino – you name it. We have a big Filipino community here,” Ar said.

Asheville residents David Rayna and Allaine Pancito stopped into the market in search of Filipino foods.

Pancito said he found items he can’t usually find in the area, such as taro and purple yam ice cream.

“There’s certain ingredients for certain foods that are hard to find, and this helps a lot,” Rayna said.

They also purchased ingredients to make hot pot, an Asian style of soup, and plan to visit weekly.

Asiana Grand Buffet to Asiana Market

Ar said Asiana Grand Buffet increasingly became challenging to operate due to staffing and the COVID-19 pandemic. Ar previously told Citizen Times that there was difficulty hiring staff with the expertise needed in Asian cuisine and sushi preparation.

“I’ve been in it for so long ― for over 30 years in the restaurant business ― and especially right after COVID, it got really stressful,” Ar said. “It has its own challenges, but it’s not as stressful as a buffet. If some of our chefs don’t show up, we can fill in, but for how long?”

It was time to move forward, Ar said, and the family recognized an opportunity to bring an expansive Asian market to the region.

Ar’s brother, Michael, owned the neighboring Lee’s Market. The siblings joined forces to become partners in Asiana Market and closed the smaller store last year. Asiana Market’s building is estimated at 13,000 square feet with more than 10,000 square feet dedicated to the public shopping area, Ar said.

“It’s about six times bigger and a lot more options,” Ar said.

The former buffet restaurant building was gutted for a complete renovation that included electrical and plumbing, painting, and the addition of cashier checkpoints, a dozen aisles of dry goods, refrigerators and freezers, Ar said.

Exploring Asiana Market

The Ar family is Chinese, and many members speak multiple languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai and Mandarin.

“Everyone speaks six or seven languages here,” Ar said.

The store’s expansive selection may be intimidating or ingredients and products unfamiliar, but customers are welcome to ask questions of the staff ― many whom are in the Ar family.

“Our staff is very knowledgeable because a lot of staff is all of my aunties and uncles, so they cook quite a bit. If you have any questions as far as ingredients or recipes, don’t be shy. Stop by and ask us and we’ll be happy to help. If there are certain products you don’t see out here, let us know, we’ll try our best to get it for you.”

Gretchen Westbrock, of Asheville, and a companion visited the grocery store on the opening day to check it out but ended up with a shopping cart full of items and inspiration to try a couple of new recipes for shrimp spring rolls and tom kha gai soup.

She also picked up cucumber chips, various drinks and other new snacks for her kids to try.

Westbrock said Asheville “absolutely” needed a store like Asiana Market.

“It’s good. Nice and big and easy to navigate than some of the smaller ones,” Westbrock said.

Westbrock said staff helped her learn about the fresh bamboo shoots in the produce section.

Donald Latham, who’s Filipino and Thai and raised in Asheville, visited Asiana Market to prepare for Chinese New Year, Feb. 10.

“I like to support community, and these are family and friends of mine. Our whole, entire community has been excited about having a store that supplies multiple ethnicities and delicious food for everybody to have for the holidays and any special event,” Latham said.

Latham’s shopping list included Thai jasmine rice, bok choy, chips and candies imported from different countries.

“I’ve watched our community grow from a little, tiny grocery store to this. It’s probably going to be the biggest in Western North Carolina, so I’m excited,” Latham said.

What’s in store at Asiana Market

Exotic Asian fruits and vegetables are offered in the fresh produce section, like jackfruit, Japanese and purple yams, mangoes, ratalu and bok choy. The selection is intended to grow and change upon availability and seasonally.

“Stuff that we don’t have, if they come in and let us know we’ll try to get that for them, as well,” Ar said.

The alcoholic beverage coolers are stocked with soju and sake and imported beer brands like Tsingtao and Lucky Buddha. Red Horse and San Miguel are popular Filipino beers, he said.

“Our sake collection is the biggest out here, and we’re getting some more with different flavors,” Ar said.

Rice styles include brown, whole grain and jasmine in regular and bulk sizes.

Fresh and dry noodles and packaged ramen are available from brands and styles from countries like Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines, he said.

Live lobsters and crabs are in tanks shipped overnight from Portland, Oregon, Ar said, with other fresh and frozen fish and seafood displayed on ice and in the freezers. Other frozen meals, meat and desserts are available, too.

Asian supermarket demand

Ar said in the past five or six years, he’s noticed more people moving to Asheville from bigger cities, like in New York, and attributes it to part of the reason for the increased demand for a larger, wider Asian selection.

“I heard some lady from New Jersey say that she had just moved here and that she was excited moving from a big city because Asheville didn’t have that big city, very specialized grocery, so she was super excited to have this,” Westbrock said. “It seems like a big city store.”

Asiana Market also offers a grab-and-go cooler stocked with prepared meals and snacks, like sushi rolls.

A hot food takeout station set up in the front of the store will open later.

Stool seating line the windows with outlets for electronics for customers to dine and hang out.

Asiana Market is a family business with Ar’s sister-in-law, Tina, taking the lead in areas like inventory ordering and labeling. Ar said Asiana Market was possible thanks to his brother, sister-in-law and other family and staff.

“It’s actually turned out a little bit better than I expected with the way everyone was helping out,” Ar said. “I want to thank our customers. As soon as we posted on Facebook, there was an outpouring of support. We’re here to serve the community, so I want to thank everybody for the support.”

Asiana Market

Where: 1968 Hendersonville Road, Asheville.

Hours: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

9 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday.

Info: For more, visit facebook.com/AsianaMarketAvl or follow on Instagram at @asianamarketavl.

Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asiana Market opens with global grocery imports, fresh seafood