A new H Mart is on track to open in downtown Urbana come late 2024 to early 2025. The H Mart will be located at 220 N. Broadway Ave. as a renovation for an already existing supermarket.
The building permit for one of America’s biggest Asian grocery stores has been sent with plans for construction moving forward. The store will be about 35,000 square feet and offer groceries, home goods, a food court, a bakery and an outside dining area.
“This is their first H Mart outside of Chicago,” said Andrea Ruedi, senior advisor for integrated strategy development in the city of Urbana. “It’s going to be a very nice store.”
The city of Urbana hopes that the H Mart will bring a variety of different options for Urbana citizens to buy their groceries and aid in connecting the Urbana community.
“H Mart is known for giving back to local communities and supporting nonprofit organizations and youth programs,” said Diane Marlin, mayor of Urbana, in a press release. “And the fact that the company is renovating a former supermarket in the heart of our downtown will help revitalize our community.”
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By welcoming the new grocery store, the city of Urbana hopes that it will help in further developing and acknowledging the diverse population and community in Urbana.
According to the press release, “H Mart Urbana will focus on developing, managing, and marketing its environment to enhance the surrounding community, making every shop a vibrant and successful place to keep on the leading edge of trends.”
The diverse food options available at H Mart will make the student and Urbana resident shopping experience more efficient and easier with great quality products.
“H Mart will become a place to experience the best of what communities have to offer, providing a convenient ‘One-Stop Shopping’ place for diverse cultures and to the neighborhood, where different ethnicities of friends and neighbors can come, gather and enjoy,” said Brian Kwon, the president of H Mart, in the press release.
The high Asian population at the University and the high population of students originating from the Chicagoland area made Urbana a prime spot to open an H Mart. The grocery store is expected to give both students and visitors a reason to visit downtown Urbana.
“This is really going to be an anchor for our downtown,” Ruedi said. “We hope that this is something that the students are really going to enjoy and bring more University students to downtown Urbana.”
Sharika Kottapalli, junior in LAS, expressed enthusiasm towards the opening of the new grocery store and mentioned their plans to go.
“I’m glad there are more options opening up,” Kottapalli said. “Especially because there’s only County Market and a Target around here.”
