by Assunta Ng
Northwest Asia Weekly
Yuehua storefront (picture provided by Yuehua)
After nearly 41 years in business, Viet Hua Supermarket in Little Saigon has announced that its last day will be September 30.
Located at 1032 South Jackson Street, Viet-Wah was once the largest store in Little Saigon and Asia Square. It occupies 15,000 square feet and houses a travel agency and a Chinese herbal medicine shop. Little Saigon is part of the Chinatown International District (CID).
The reason for the CID Viet-Wah store closing is “the COVID-19 situation coupled with staff shortages,” said its founder and president, Duc Tran.
“Yuehua is losing about $10,000 a month. The market has been losing money for the past two years.” The store has cut the workweek from seven to six and has been unable to hire enough staff.
Little Saigon has lost several businesses during the pandemic and ongoing public safety concerns. Just recently, CID has had two more major business failures. The Starbucks store at Union Station closed in July, and the last day for Bartell Drugs is September 14.
Viet-Wah owner Duc Tran and daughter Leeching Tran inside the Renton store. (Photo by Assunta Ng)
However, Tran, 69, said it was time to retire. As a refugee who fled Vietnam by boat in 1976, Tran worked two or three jobs in his early years to survive.
He is the embodiment of the American dream.
In 1981, Trans opened his first store at 668 South Jackson Street. Later, when Building 668 was remodeled, it was moved to another CID location. In 1988, Viet-Wah expanded to what is now Asia Square and opened a restaurant and two other markets, one at Martin Luther King Way South and the other at Renton. The MLK store closed in 2015, and the Renton store is still open. He also owns a wholesale business, which he sold three years ago.
Tran is grateful that the United States brought 11 members of his family, including his siblings and him, to this country.
“America is a land of opportunity. I thank America for making my dreams come true and I can have my own business.”
Forty years later, his family, including second and third generations, has grown to 60 members—a fivefold increase since arriving in the United States in 1981.
Assunta can reach assunta@nwasianweekly.com.
