Dive Brief:
- Asian grocery chain 99 Ranch Market has arrived in Arizona with the grand opening of its store in Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix, last week.
- The 44,085-square-foot store includes the grocer’s Eat Up food court, which offers chicken and noodles from Nine Wings, a vegan and vegetarian-friendly eatery called Veggie Village and Jin Tofu Village serving up Korean food. More eateries are expected to open, the grocer said in a press release.
- 99 Ranch’s new store comes at a time when several grocers are setting up shop in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Dive Insight:
With the Arizona location now open, 99 Ranch now has 54 stores across 10 states.
The store at 1920 W. Chandler Blvd. is roughly a 15-minute drive from H Mart’s only location in Arizona, which opened in Mesa last spring. Along with 99 Ranch and H Mart, the Phoenix area is seeing growing grocery competition with the opening of stores by Aldi, Asian grocery store W Mart, Trader Joe’s and other retailers, The Arizona Republic reported.
Headquartered in California, 99 Ranch has been focusing on expanding its reach to current and new customers. Last year, the Taiwanese American supermarket chain grew its East Coast presence by coming to Massachusetts and Virginia. In November, the grocer teamed up with Instacart.
Competition is growing in the Asian grocery market. H Mart is expanding its U.S. footprint by coming to Florida and also plans to open an automated micro-fulfillment center in New Jersey. E-grocers with Asian groceries are also growing in the U.S., like Umamicart, which launched earlier this year.
