Fargo's new Asian and American Supermarket is ready to make you feel at home, no matter where home is

FARGO — John Huynh has made it his mission in life to make you feel at home, no matter where in the world that home is.

To that end, the co-owner of Fargo’s Asian and American Market is ready to unveil a new, much bigger, home for the region’s multi-ethnic foodies who count on him to provide the tastes they’ve grown up with — or simply have grown to love.

At 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 27, Huynh will open the Asian and American Supermarket at 1425 Main Ave., just a few blocks west of the longtime location at 1015 Main Ave.

Huynh has been working 15- and 16-hour days, seven days a week to get the new store ready. He’s keyed up, but by his reckoning, keyed up in the best way possible.

“Here is what the customer has been looking for,” Huynh said Monday, Jan. 23, gesturing to the clean, wide aisles of his new 19,000-square-feet store.

The metro area is growing and his customers demanded a bigger store, he said.

In the new store, they’ll get three times the space to shop, compared with the collegial, but cramped, old grocery shoehorned into a strip mall on the south side of downtown.

“This will be the biggest international market in North Dakota and South Dakota,” Huynh said.

There’s also plenty of parking. The Supermarket has 70 parking spots, compared with the 10 to 15 spots at the strip center.

On Monday, the shelves, coolers and freezers of the new store had plenty of gaps, but were slowly but surely being filled in advance of Friday’s opening.

Huynh has double the freezer and cooler space available and three times the warehouse space of the old store. He’ll use that to add more varieties of meats, produce, staples and treats.

“We need a parking lot, we need more product,” customers told him, Huynh said. “Ask and you shall receive!”

Signs on the doors of the old market at 1015 Main trumpet the coming of the new location.

Huynh’s customers look forward to checking out the new location.

Chris Nelson was going through the aisles of the old Asian and America Market on Monday, basket in hand, with his son, Arlo.

Nelson, who works as a chef at Beer & Fish Company in downtown Fargo, said his family enjoys trying new foods and he looks forward to shopping at the new supermarket.

Wider aisles will be welcome.

“It does get crowded in here, especially if somebody has a cart,” Nelson said.

“I think that will be a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s going to be crazy. I’m anxious to see it. … Good for them, I say.”

Huynh and his sister, who co-owns the business with him, started planning the Supermarket in 2019. Huynh says it’s been a struggle to get the new store built through the labor and supply chain problems thrown up since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. The original plan called for opening in May 2022.

With the opening at 1425 Main Ave. near, anticipation is growing.

“They (customers) keep asking me, 'When are you going to move? When are you going to move? When will the new location be open?'” Huynh said. “When we work over here, we have some customers knock on the door. They’re ready!”

The market carries foods and spices popular in China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, India and Bhutan, but there are now a lot of customers who crave the foods of Africa, too.

Much of one aisle is dominated by noodles from around the world. He stocks more than 20 varieties of rice.

Huynh figures he carries foods from about 20 countries, with their small, colorful flags strung from the rafters high above the market floor.

He uses about 15 suppliers for the thousands of items lining his aisles.

“I’m so proud. People … sometimes they come here and say, ‘I used to eat this back home.’ It kind of reminds them, even though they are far, far away,” from where they used to live.

“That’s what I hear a lot from customers. 'Thank you for bringing this food. When we were kids, it’s what we used to eat,'” Huynh said. “That’s the best part of my job.”

People in general are becoming more adventurous diners, too.

Many F-M area residents grew up eating popular European or American foods. Then they eat at a Chinese or Asian restaurant and like it, so they try to make those foods in their own homes.

“That’s why they come to us,” Huynh said.

Korinne Weisbrod is one of those people who enjoys adding some spice to her life.

She was perusing the aisles of the original store Monday.

Weisbrod, who lives between Lidgerwood and Wyndmere, said the market has been a go-to stop in Fargo.

“We eat a lot of Thai and Indian. We eat a lot of curries, so this is where you have to get the stuff,” Weisbrod said.

“There’s a lot of stuff you just can’t get or it’s twice as expensive anywhere else,” Weisbrod said.

Kaneza Diane immigrated to Fargo from East Africa. She stops by for some comfort.

“This store, they have foods from Africa,” Diane said. “You can find foods from home!”

Being a grocer wasn’t Huynh’s first choice of occupation. He previously worked in health care while living in Minneapolis.

During a trip to the Fargo-Moorhead area to visit relatives, the previous owner of Asian and American Market said he was retiring and asked Huynh if he wanted to get into the grocery business.

He had exactly zero experience in the grocery business.

But he thought about it for a day, before deciding, “I will try something new.”

He hasn’t had a regret since, despite the grind of the long hours to get the new Supermarket ready.

“This morning, I had breakfast with my daughter. She said, ‘Dad, I haven’t seen you since Friday!’ When they wake up, I’m already at work, and at night, they’re already in bed” by the time he gets home, he said.

“I’m happy with my job. Because if you’re not happy with your job, you cannot” work overtime hours, he said. “It takes a lot of sacrifice, but I’m so happy.”

It helps that Huynh thrives on interacting with people from different countries

As a healthcare provider, he’d take care of five or six patients a day, “but when I do a grocery store, I am able to help a thousand people,” he said. “I cannot just stay in my office.”

The new location at 1425 Main wasn’t his first choice.

He originally wanted to move more to the south and west in the metro area, but offers for a couple of spaces fell through.

Then, the land and warehouses at 1425 Main hit the market.

In the end, he says being able to build so close to his old store was “a blessing,” meaning it will be easier to keep customers.

Huynh still has stock and equipment arriving. He figures the new store will be 70% stocked when it opens. He’ll fill the shelves in coming weeks and figures it will be March before he'll hold a grand opening celebration.

Some things will come farther in the future, such as delicatessen. He’s got a space roughed out near the front of the store, but he’ll take his time getting that started.

Huynh says he's excited to add to his contributions to the community.

“I would like to say thank you to the people living in Moorhead and the city of Fargo who support it (the store),” he said. “This is for them.”

Asian and American Supermarket will be open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.