The grand opening of the H Mart located at 7884 Dublin Blvd marks a massive milestone in the community as it attracted an estimated 10,000 attendees throughout opening day. The much-awaited grand opening of the “mega-store” measuring 39,000 square feet took over a previous Orchard Supply Hardware store after more than two years of wait. The grand opening was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a lion dance show. The long lines of shoppers were around the entire Dublin Retail Center, which includes many other businesses such as Ross and Marshalls. Reportedly, the shoppers had to wait for more than an hour to get access to the facility. The supposed highlight of the store is the enormous food hall measuring 8,500 square feet with six different dining concepts. This is a major addition to the already diverse food scene in the Tri-Valley area. The food hall has many popular vendors such as Daeho, which provides authentic Korean-style braised short ribs called “galbijjim.” Other popular food options in the food hall include bb.q Chicken Korean-style fried chicken, Kyodong Noodles Korean-Chinese cuisine, Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast street snacks, Chodang soft tofu soup, and Tous Les Jours French-Asian bakery. The food hall also has a seating area of 3,187 square feet and a small play area for small children.
Outside of the dining options, the supermarket offers a complete grocery shopping experience, including sections for fresh produce, live seafood, poultry and meats, and hard-to-find Korean pantry items. The grand opening events will continue throughout the March weekend, including free stainless steel mugs for Smart Card members, as well as gift giveaways for shoppers who meet specified purchase criteria. The supermarket is currently open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The opening of the Dublin H Mart store is more than just a new grocery store for our town- it is a change for the Tri-Valley area. The city has successfully filled a large retail void by repurposing and reinventing a large-scale vacant hardware store as a vibrant combination of high-end grocery shopping and restaurant quality eating areas. Once the crowds from the grand opening of the H Mart have begun to stabilize, I have no doubt that the store will continue to be a high-traffic generator for the Dublin Boulevard area, continuing to secure the store’s reputation for being a premier destination for diverse culinary and cultural experiences within the Dublin East Bay region.
The long-term effects of this new store are already being felt by neighboring businesses, as the sheer volume of traffic has been a rather new addition to the surrounding retail environment. The success of this launch has been seen by local officials as a model for future developments within the city, demonstrating that even within a technologically advanced economic environment, specialized retail experiences are able to flourish. As the “H Mart effect” continues to bring visitors from all across the Tri-Valley region and beyond, this location is poised to be at the forefront of economic development within the city of Dublin, further solidifying its reputation as one of the fastest-growing and most culturally diverse areas within Northern California.