Hmart, a Korean supermarket chain, opened just a few days ago in Tigard, on the 99W a couple miles south of the 217.

I made it there for opening day, and it was swamped with swaths of overzealous consumers engaged simultaneously in a mad power grab. Here’s what I had to say at Portlandfood.org:

“I showed up at noon. Absolutely insane. Wall-to-wall bodies. I would say a good portion of the entire Portland metro area Korean community was here. The checkout lines were 30 carts deep. After 40 minutes I felt a panic attack coming on and needed a dozen Xanax and a defibrillator.

The store? Amazing. Larger than Uwajimaya, and outside of, say, pre-packaged sashimi and sashimi grade seafood, a better selection of most everything. About the size of Fubonn, and their produce section is twice as large. There’s a fair amount of traditional American supermarket goods, as well, so it’s a one-stop shopping option. Bulk banchan by the pound – about a dozen varieties, and much more in pre-packaged containers by the Korean food counter.

A Chinese food counter, a bakery, a sushi counter, a Korean food counter (bi bimi bap for $5.50). There’s a very large language barrier happening here, and after attempting to order some spicy tofu stew for a couple minutes (the Korean food counter is very confusing) I figured I’d come back in a couple weeks once things die down.”

Here are the photos.