Word on the Street: SF Supermarket holds grand opening for SE Fresno store

SF Supermarket is holding its grand opening on Friday, April 8, in southeast Fresno with a lion dance troupe, fireworks and gifts for the store’s first customers.

The store will take up around 56,000 square feet building at 4970 E Kings Canyon Road, which was previously occupied by Food Maxx, said Blong Xiong, the former Fresno City Councilman who was hired to handle marketing for the store.

Customers will be able to find fresh produce, seafood, numerous varieties of rice and noodles, hot sauces and specialty Asian ingredients, Xiong said. “You’re looking at thousands of different items at a store of that size.”

The supermarket will be open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The company felt Fresno’s large Asian population would make for a perfect location for a new store, said Huy Trieu, general manager of the company’s stores. The store will employ around 100 people, he said.

“We still carry a majority of American food but then all the ethnic food as well,” Trieu said. The store will carry Hispanic, Filipino, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Indian food items.

SF stands for Shun Fat, which means prosperity in Chinese, Trieu said.

The supermarket will be much larger than most Asian grocery stores in Fresno, Xiong said. “You’re not going to see something like this probably until you get to San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego or LA.”

Councilman Sal Quintero will attend the grand opening.

“We are excited to see another business opening its doors and serving our Kings Canyon/Ventura merchants corridor,” Quintero said in an email. “Their decision to select south Fresno as their new store will create 100-plus new jobs to our area.”

Chinese-Vietnamese entrepreneur Hieu Tran opened the first SF Market in Monterey Park in Southern California in 1993. Since then, the company has opened over a dozen stores throughout California and expanded to Nevada and Texas.

The southeast Fresno location is the company’s 16th store, and its second entry into the San Joaquin Valley after opening a supermarket in Stockton.

In the next six months, SF Market will add a bakery and restaurant, Trieu said.

The grand opening is at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 8, with a lion dance troupe, fireworks and ribbon-cutting. The first 200 customers on April 8, 9 and 10 will receive a free 25 pound bag of rice.

For more information, visit www.shunfatsupermarket.com/ads/fresno/

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Word on the Street: SF Supermarket holds grand opening for SE Fresno store."