Hung Vuong Supermarket: Asian Retailer Forges Future

This locally owned Asian supermarket chain continues to expand to meet customer demand.

The 60,000-square-foot Hung Vuong Supermarket in Cherry Hill, NJ, traces its origins to an unassuming produce-oriented store at the gates of Philly’s Chinatown.

“Our owners started their first store 20 years ago in Philly’s Chinatown,” says Chau Huynh, public relations for Hung Vuong Group headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. “It was about 4,000 square feet and is still in operation today. They were pulling customers from all over the metro area and so they began to look at expanding.”

The road to the Cherry Hill store was first blazed by two 30,000-square-foot stores. In 2016, the owners took over a supermarket on 11th and Washington in South Philadelphia, and then built out another store in North Philadelphia, says Huynh. In 2018, they took over the lease of the Cherry Hill strip mall with the vision to offer a larger store that mixed Chinese, other Asian and American foods. Since then, they have expanded into two more stores in Delaware and King of Prussia, PA.

Hung Vuong is a family business, now owned and run by Berry Liu. “They come from a family of food wholesale distributors who control about 60 to 70% of the Chinese wholesale food market in the tri-state area,” says Huynh. “Hung Vuong is the largest locally owned, private Asian store in the area.”

ROOTED IN PRODUCE

Produce is vital to all the Hung Vuong stores, both because of its importance to the customer base, as well as the chain’s origins in the Chinatown store. “The family came from a fresh, high-quality produce background, and we want to offer that to all our communities,” says Huynh. “Fresh produce is a big draw for our customer base.”

The goal of the Cherry Hill store is to not only serve Hung Vuong’s typical Asian customer base, but to expand it. “We want to also reach those in our local community who love to explore and have an open mind about these products,” says Huynh. “We are appealing to more non-Asian customers who are looking for the products we carry. This has been particularly true at the Cherry Hill store.”

The Cherry Hill produce section is approximately 25% of the total store square footage, around 15,000 square feet. It contributes 30% of total store sales, according to Huynh. “Produce is an essential component of all our stores, and the Cherry Hill store really emphasizes that,” he says.

The store’s produce department offers an average of 350 items on display, which can increase or decrease based on seasonality,” says Huynh. “We carry and display a lot of items because that is our forte. We especially want to always have the tropical and exotics that our customers are looking for.”

SOURCING

The Cherry Hill store moves a steady volume of produce, and Huynh says the most important criteria for sourcing is quality. “Pricing comes in second and variety follows,” he says. “Those are the three crucial factors for us, both for buying and for what we offer customers.”

The store sources the majority of its produce through a wholesale distributor. “We also buy 5% from the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, which can increase depending on our needs and the market dynamics,” says Huynh. “And, we source some directly from the port of New York.”

The store takes daily deliveries to ensure quality. “Produce is very important to Berry and the family, and quality is the No. 1 priority,” says Huynh. “Berry is also the produce director for our stores because he’s an expert in that area. Every store has a produce manager and they report directly to Berry. He shares his expertise with them, and also identifies any challenges the department may have. He ensures each manager has what they need.”

GIGANTIC SALES OPPORTUNITY

Walking into the Cherry Hill store, customers are greeted with the massive size and vast variety of the produce department. Items are amply displayed in large metal and wood bins. “These bins are very easy to disassemble, move and navigate, based on our needs,” says Huynh.

The wide-open space looks festive with hanging banners and decorations. The quality of the displays is evident. Employees dot the department restocking and reorganizing items. Special buys are on display via pallets stacked on the floor in an open area, giving them a fresh-off-the-truck feel. Many items are offered by the box or case with a special price.

The expansive department boasts seven to eight large, 33-foot-by-8-foot sections of movable bins with abundant produce displays and plenty of room between for customer navigation. A 75-foot refrigerated case flanks the left side of the department housing 17 feet of specialty and value-added produce.

Most of the displays stay static, with about 80% of the displays in the same location throughout the year, says Huynh. “We will move the other 20% around and adjust depending on seasonality, good buys and time of year. That 20% is all about showcasing what we really want to catch the customer’s eye, for example, if we have a good amount of jackfruit or dragon fruit.”

FACT FILE

Hung Vuong Supermarket
1445 Brace Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
Tel: 856-857-1189 | https://hungvuongmarkets.com
Hours: Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.