TOUR: Hmart - Yonkers, NY

As I love to do, we're going out with a bang at this store, which is our last of the Bronx/Yonkers group. It's a former Pathmark (one of two in Yonkers, the other was just up the street at 1757 Central Park Ave while this is at 1789 Central Park Ave). The 40,000 square foot store was taken over by Lyndhurst, NJ-based Hmart, the country's largest Korean supermarket chain. It's a family business, founded by Il Yeon Kwon, a Korean immigrant, and the chain's president is his daughter, Stacey Kwon, who lives in Paramus. Oh yeah, and happy September 22nd. (One of these days I'll stop coming up with random places to put music I like in my posts.) Side note, it's also the first anniversary of The Independent Edition!

While ethnic supermarkets have a reputation for frequently taking over chain stores with little modification, Hmart (along with a few other operators, such as Food Bazaar) have shattered that reputation recently as they take over chain stores and gut-renovate them. In this case, Hmart kept the Pathmark's pharmacy but added a food hall at the far end of the store.

You enter to the produce department on the left side of the store, with health and beauty and pharmacy in the front corner (where Pathmark would've had it). Meat and seafood run along the back wall, with dairy in the first aisle and frozen foods at the far end. The last aisle becomes the Market Eatery, with a variety of food vendors lining the wall and seating opposite. The front wall has a coffee shop and bakery, and unlike many Asian supermarkets, a full Boar's Head deli in the front corner.

Heading inside, we see a store that looks absolutely nothing like a Pathmark. Instead, Hmart has completely changed the store's interior.

I noticed for sure that, given the demographics of Yonkers, this store has a far larger selection of Latin and Caribbean products than most Hmarts do, although I've noticed that the newer stores tend to have that. (Interestingly enough, Food Bazaar started as a solidly Latin and Caribbean supermarket and has become increasingly Asian.)

There are a lot of similarities between the two chains, even down to the fact that both of them are run by relatively young children of Korean immigrants whose parents started the chains.

And both chains are increasingly upscale and tend to lean increasingly into organic foods.

Hmart, however, still anchors itself in Korean products while Food Bazaar still is most closely associated with Central and South America.

Kimchi and meats along the back wall.

Dairy in the first aisle (backing up to the produce cases), with general groceries and nonfoods in the first few aisles. Pretty much the rest of the store is dedicated to international foods.

Nonfoods looking a little disorganized, but it's really only this aisle. The service butcher, which also includes a self-service marinated meat bar, is about halfway across the back wall with seafood next to it.

Beautiful meat and seafood counters. In addition to the seafood counter on the back wall, there is an island featuring shellfish and live fish.

Gee, didn't you love Pathmark's marinated meat bar?

Packaged refrigerated goods and beer line the second-to-last aisle.

And the last aisle is frozen foods. As you can imagine, all of the fixtures here are brand-new -- I don't think there's one speck of Pathmark left inside this store.

The last aisle is the Market Eatery, with food vendors lining the side wall.

I would bet this is very popular at lunchtime, but I visited in the afternoon, long after lunch.

Deli (as I mentioned, this is unusual in Asian supermarkets, and I'm not even sure I've visited an Hmart with a deli before. I kind of think, you're a supermarket in New York, you better have a deli.

A dumpling station around the corner from the deli. Facing this is a coffee shop, Cafe L'Ami. I'm actually surprised this isn't a Tous Les Jours, which typically has locations in Hmart stores.

The bakery section is (theoretically) visible to the sales floor, as you can see the windows to the right, but most of them are covered with sale items. Anyway, we're heading over to the front-end before we head out...

This wraps up our tour of the Hmart but also our coverage of Yonkers! Come back soon for more Westchester county.

Hmart Yonkers

1789 Central Park Ave, Yonkers, NY
Photographed March 2019