Longtime Asian market survives as competition grows in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Hung Pham escaped Vietnam as a teenager to make a new life in the United States, eventually owning a small family grocery store that perseveres, even in the face of adversity.

Up until now, major challenges have stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic, with rising shipping costs and price increases for a variety of products the family sells at Saigon Market, 803 Second Ave. SE, at the edge of downtown Cedar Rapids.

Soon, though, the Saigon Market will face more competition as two specialty grocers are expected to open nearby.

Skogman Commercial Real Estate Group announced Oct. 31, 2024, that Hornbill Asian Market will lease a new location in the 1400 block of First Avenue SE, just one block from the Hy-Vee store that closed earlier this year. The Hy-Vee site remains vacant.

Related: Demonstrators call for Hy-Vee boycott

Just one block away from the Saigon Market, another grocery store is expected to open in the former Jeff Jones Furniture building at 803 Third Ave. SE, previously the home of Hawkeye Seed Co.

“We will have a lot of competition,” Pham said, as he worked in his store this week.

Saigon Market has been in business since 1993, after Pham purchased an Asian store that had been located at the site, changing the name a few years later to its current one.

“We have a lot of regular customers,” he noted, with some shopping for specialty fruits and vegetables, as well as rice, canned goods such as coconut cream, sauces and more. Some shop two times per week, while others travel long distances to find items unavailable elsewhere, Pham said.

Now 57, Pham was just 16 when he arrived in the United States with his three younger brothers.

They had escaped Vietnam on a rickety boat, making their way to a refugee camp, where they waited for an opportunity for resettlement. In 1982, they arrived in Iowa, being placed in foster care until they graduated from high school.

Pham attended Washington High School, joining the soccer team and working as a custodian assistant at night, and later, at a pizza restaurant, earning $3.75 per hour.

He earned an associates degree in electronic engineering and technology from Kirkwood Community College and worked in circuit board redesign for a local company before being laid off due to the economic downturn in 1993.

“I tried to have a job for myself and some family members,” Pham said of his decision to buy the store, which employs a few other relatives. “We are a specialty store. Not like Hy-Vee or Walmart.”

Because of that, the pandemic hit especially hard, as customers did not have the celebrations and gatherings they typically had in the past, when they would load up on the ethnic foods available at Saigon Market.

Originally a Shell Service Station built in 1929, with a 1931 addition, the building housing the Saigon Market is part of the city’s Automobile Row Historic District, as is the former Jeff Jones furniture, built as the Kadlec Bros. auto dealership in the early 1950s.

While not the size of the larger stores that will be opening, the Saigon Market makes full use of its space, with shelves lined with merchandise and a second level used for larger items, such as bags of rice.

Next door, friends operate a separate business at Phong Lan, a Vietnamese restaurant that occasionally sources items from the Saigon Market.

While his business has adjusted to price increases and many customers have returned, Pham doesn’t plan any major changes, even as competition grows nearby.

“It’s good enough to have this here and try to survive,” he said. “I’ll stay here and retire here.”

Roger Su stopped in to buy mooncakes and other sweets this week for an occasional treat.

Su happened upon Saigon Market in 2009 “and I’ve been coming here ever since,” he said, citing low prices and a wide variety of groceries, as well as a quick turnover of produce, making it always fresh.

“They work hard,” Su added. “I like people who contribute to society so our kids and grandkids have a better future.”