Super G Mart to Open New Store in Charlotte Area

Finding new ways to draw in customers is always on a grocer’s mind. Super G Mart, one of North Carolina’s largest international supermarkets, will open its third and largest store this summer in Pineville, N.C., with a food hall, restaurant and retail space, as well as a community center, which will be offering something different for its customers—language classes.

The 108,000-square-foot Pineville location at 10500 Centrum Parkway is set to open in June and is bigger than the grocer’s other two locations in Greensboro and Charlotte—allowing for a more immersive experience for its shoppers, Paul Han, VP of operations, told WGB. Super G Mart is a privately held company. Han joined the company in 2014 after his mother, Irene Han, became president and CEO.

“A lot of brick-and-mortar stores are struggling to stay relevant in the grocery business and that is why we plan to offer cooking classes and language classes and other community events,” Han said.

Paul Han

The Pineville location will have 14 food hall/restaurant spaces with choices from all over the world, including Indian, Asian and potentially Ethiopian and other cuisines from around the world, Han said. “The Pineville location is a former KMart, and 60,000 square feet will be used for grocery and 25,000 square feet will be a food hall and retail space. The community center will be roughly 2,000 square feet,” Han told WGB.

Han said Super G Mart is an international supermarket that is not just an Asian market like other grocers have embraced. “Oftentimes international grocery stores are associated with a very specific region, but we really wanted to go by the word 'international,' so our stores consist of European, Middle Eastern, Latin America, Asian, African and various sections,” Han said.

Han said Super G Mart’s newest location will cater to two crowds: the immigrant community that needs that authentic spice or ingredient, but also the general public’s palate as well. “We want to expose the general public to different cuisines and flavors so that they can try new menus,” Han said.

With supply chain issues plaguing grocery store openings across the country, Han said Super G Mart experienced setbacks as well. Originally aiming for late 2021 as its opening date, supply chain issues and construction delays pushed back the Pineville store's opening.

“We had a few setbacks with general supplies like refrigeration and shelving and being an international grocer, many of our products come from overseas, so we had dock delays as well.”

But Han said the delays did have its benefits. “Being delayed gave us time to prepare and consider what we might be missing,” Han said.

Han said the Charlotte community has been very supportive and is highly anticipating the opening. “They continue to ask when we are opening,” Han said. “We have customers that are driving all the way from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to visit our Charlotte store just because we are different. We have people who drive three and half hours one way once a week to visit our Charlotte store—and we are appreciative of it.”

Han said the Pineville location will also offer curbside pickup as well as online e-commerce and plenty of in-store shopping experiences.

Along with their essentials, Han said he wants shoppers at the new location to “explore the aisles of different flavors and ingredients and to try those flavors in the food hall and if time permits, to sit in on one of those classes where they can learn a new language or how to cook something they just had in the food hall.”