UWAJIMAYA FOOD OUTLET WILL TEST OREGON MARKET

PHIL ADAMSAK

BEAVERTON, Ore. -- A landmark Asian supermarket from Seattle, Uwajimaya, plans to open its first out-of-state store here in December, in a remodeled retail warehouse store, president Akira Moriguchi said.

Beaverton is a suburb of Portland with a strong high-technology business sector. The new store's site is in an upscale Asian business district, much of it Korean-American owned. The building was formerly occupied by Jafco and Best Products stores.

The flagship Uwajimaya store in Seattle's International District is a tourist attraction, visited regularly by tour buses. It features water tanks with live fish and shellfish, raw fillets of fish for sushi, hot prepared foods, gifts and household goods, according to Moriguchi. It also offers in-store demonstrations of Asian cooking methods.

The closely held company, 95% family-owned, also has a store in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, along with a wholesale operation.

Moriguchi said renovations will cost $2.5 million, and the store will have about 50 employees. He added that the firm is negotiating with a Japan-based bookstore chain, Kinokuniya, and a Japanese-American restaurant to open stores in the 30,000-square-foot building.

A future competitor is Yoji Matsushima, president of Anzen Pacific Corp. The firm operates Anzen Importers stores, a 7,000-square-foot store in Portland and a 4,000-square-foot outlet near the Uwajimaya site.

He said the new store will impact his business, but declined to give sales figures. His brother, Chuck, a vice president, said he hopes the Portland community will continue to support the local store.

The Anzen stores sell Asian groceries plus nonfood merchandise including small home furnishings. Both Anzen and Uwajimaya were founded by Japanese-Americans and are owned and operated by descendants.

Uwajimaya was founded in 1928 in Tacoma, Wash., and was later moved to Seattle by Moriguchi's father, Fujimatsu. He named it for his home village, Uwajima, on the Japanese island of Shikoku. Moriguchi said he has been looking for a Portland site for three years.

He said he expects the Asian market in Portland to grow, as it has in Seattle, adding that the most growth is from among Chinese, South Korean, Taiwanese and Filipino immigrants.