Asian grocer H Mart will be opening its first Vancouver Island location at Victoria’s Mayfair Shopping Centre’s in a retail unit formerly occupied by Toys R Us, Citified has learned.

 

 

H Mart has leased a 30,000 square foot space on Blanshard Street at Tolmie Avenue vacated in December, under a deal brokered by the Vancouver office of Cushman Wakefield, and is expected to set up shop later this year.

 

New Jersey-based H Mart operates Canadian stores in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, with eight locations in BC centred around Metro Vancouver, two stores in Edmonton, one in Calgary, plus a further seven locations in Toronto.

 

The company has reportedly been eyeing a south Island presence for some time, and reviewed multiple options throughout the region as part of its search for an entry point in Greater Victoria.

 

H Mart dubs itself as the “largest Asian food specialty market” chain in North America, and has a similar business model to Canada’s T&T Supermarket brand owned by Ontario-based Loblaw.

 

With two retail concepts under its banner in BC, H Mart locations offer large format layouts similar in size to local grocery chain Fairway Market, which is also known for its focus on Asian specialty items, and smaller concept stores called H Mart Express.

 

As for Toys R Us, the toy retailer isn’t giving up on the Capital Region just yet, and could re-open a store in an alternate location pending a search for a new home. 

 

In terms of recent grocery store expansion in the region, Save-On-Foods opened its latest south Island location last fall at the first phase of Colwood’s Colwood Corners development on Sooke Road, and Metro Vancouver-based Garcha Bros. Meat Shop & Poultry, as part of the same company's Day to Day Grocery & Produce chain, opened last summer on Burnside Road west of Harriet Road in Saanich. Wal Mart welcomed shoppers to its third Supercentre location (featuring a grocery component) last June at Victoria's Hillside Shopping Centre.

 

Quality Foods, meanwhile, is coming to Colwood’s Royal Bay community as the anchor tenant of the subdivision’s upcoming Royal Bay Commons. Rumours are also swirling about Red Barn Market’s expansion to Sooke in a planned strip mall near the 17 Mile Pub or at an atlernate location closer to the town centre, and whether a third large-format grocery store will open in the town core at an upcoming shopping plaza on West Coast Road currently making its way through the approvals process. C

 

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