Market share
At Quincy's large Kam Man, a new American melting pot has a distinctly Chinese taste
Wan Wu ducks out of the small office he shares with his employees and heads out into the bustling Kam Man Market, the emporium that anchors Quincy's President Plaza.
"You've probably never seen this before," says Wu, the manager, pointing to one of a score of green vegetables not seen in mainline supermarkets. The swimming shrimp also catch the eye. Even the Chinese takeout food challenges the familiar with offerings such as "spicy stoma" (pig stomach) and chicken feet.
Such are the choices at Kam Man Market, said to be the largest Asian supermarket in New England. Food and condiments from many Asian cultures (Korean and Japanese, to Cambodian and Thai) are represented. Throw in some Hispanic and Caribbean canned goods, a dash of Indian cuisine, and a few requisite American staples, and you've got a classic American melting pot, Chinese-style.
On weekends, Asian shoppers come from as far as Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and the Cape. "They bring the whole family," says Wu.
Kam Man Market, and the eclectic and colorful Asian shops clustered around it, are an adventure to newcomers.
"It's a great show to go in there," says Peter Forman, president of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, who recently made his acquaintance with the 40,000--square-foot supermarket when his wife needed ingredients for a recipe learned in cooking class.
"It shows us how narrowly we confine ourselves by just shopping for the usual American vegetables."
New York based-Kam Man brought its wide world of food to Massachusetts in 2003 after concluding that Greater Boston had a significantly larger demand for Asian products than supply. The company had opened its first grocery store in Manhattan's Lower East Side more than 30 years earlier, then moved to New Jersey when it needed more space.
From that experience, Kam Man's owners knew they wanted a location outside Boston where parking was available and rents were lower. Quincy's large Asian population - more than a fifth of the city - made it a natural location.
Kam Man set up shop in a former Bradlee's store in moribund President Plaza.
"Right away it was a smash success," says Wu. And it has grown since then.
Kam Man rents part of the onetime Bradlee's space to several Asian-themed stores. The lineup includes Wellcome Herb Shop, clothing shops, a bank, Migun Thermal Massage Bed, Jubilee Imports, a Buddhist society that offers free books, the Lollicup TeaZone, a Vietnamese sandwich shop, a video store, and phone stores.
The decor is heavily Chinese, and a knowledge of the language helps a visitor read signs and labels, but there are plenty of English postings to help a non-Chinese reader. Non-Asians make up 30 percent of Kam Man's customers, says Wu.
The supermarket's appeal also attracted restaurant tenants to the shopping plaza, including Jazz Moon Karaoke Box and China Pearl, the Boston-based dim sum restaurant that opened in Quincy last year.
Kam Man last year opened its own retail store at one end of the defunct department store. With the competition nearby, Wu says, Kam Man seeks its own niche, not selling "anything you can find in
The combination makes for one-stop shopping for Asian customers, according to real estate broker Kai Lau of Cantonese World, who handled Kam Man's Quincy deal.
"It is a very good setting for us to welcome Americans," Lau says. "It's a platform, a showplace to display our products in the state of Massachusetts."
As Lau sees it, those products include not only the supermarket's fresh foods and baked goods, but items such as the porcelain vases on display this month in Kam Man from the Jindezhen region of Jiangxi province. Jindezhen, China's "porcelain city," has had a reputation for producing China's best decorative ceramics for almost a millennium.
"Maybe Americans will like them, too," says Jing Ouyang of China, who leased aisle space in the supermarket to display the vases. "We don't know, but we want to try."
Dean Rizzo, director of Quincy 2000, the city's economic development agency, is also betting on Kam Man's crossover appeal. He says, "To have a regional company located in the city of Quincy is a great example for other companies."
His agency is using Kam Man to promote the city in a new business recruitment DVD.
"It's a crossover market for people from all cultures to visit all cultures," says Rizzo. "Once you go there, you're going to go back."
Wu, who was brought into the company by his brother to manage the Quincy store, proudly shows off the store's range. He points out the bakery section offering sponge cake, fruit tarts, elegantly decorated American-style wedding cakes, and Chinese steamed buns.
Then it is on to the prepared food section: barbecued chicken and duck; roasted pig; live grouper, catfish, and bass swimming "in peaceful co-existence"; an extensive produce section with its large roots, football-sized radishes, various varieties of bok choy, and wide selection of greens.
The grocery aisles include 20 kinds of rice, Asian sweets, and frozen food items. Wu says he hasn't tried everything himself.
The tastes and demands of the region's Asian population, largely Cantonese, drive the marketing decisions, the store manager says. British Hong Kong's influence on the Canton region on China's southern coast is responsible for those Western-style cakes, Wu said. Chickens barbecued in the Hong Kong manner are very popular, he said, and roasted pigs for parties may be ordered in advance.
Lau says the state's growing Asian population and Kam Man's success mean the region can expect more Asian-themed businesses. He cites a proverb: If you have more chickens you'll have more eggs. If you have more eggs, you'll have more chickens.
"Right now we have more eggs," Lau said. "We expect more chickens."
Robert Knox can be contacted at rc.knox@gmail.com.
