Neighborhood Grocers

Immigrants from South Korea make up the fastest-growing contingent of small grocery store owners in Southern California. The number of Korean-owned grocery stores is close to 300, said Yang Kim, a former president of the Southern California Korean Grocers & Liquor Retailers Assn.

Including small liquor outlets, delicatessens and convenience stores, the total comes to 2,500 to 3,000--up from 1,000 in 1982, he said. Only one-quarter of the stores are in predominantly Korean neighborhoods. Less than one-tenth are in Latino areas.

The grocery business has attracted Koreans because it rewards hard work, requires the long hours and attentive labor that a large family can provide, and does not need large sums of money to start out, Kim said.

Many immigrant families are willing to work long hours without regard for pay to establish themselves in their new country, said Uka Solanki, owner of two small Los Angeles grocery stores. “Sometimes they earn $3 an hour, and they work 12 hours a day.”

Some of the first Korean families to open stores now have two or three, said Kim, who owns three small markets in downtown Los Angeles. Turnover is high, with the average Korean-owned store changing hands every 18 months, according to a study by the Mexican-American Grocers Assn. Yet the total number of such stores grows because “They sell them to other Koreans,” association President Steve Soto said.

Imported snacks and soft drinks are especially popular this year in the small neighborhood grocery stores of East Los Angeles, said Gloria Alvarez, executive director for operations of the Mexican-American Grocers Assn. Sales of Caramba, a sweet, fizzy drink, are rising.

Little cellophane bags of chili-covered peanuts, dried tamarinds and plums, and honey candy are all selling well, she said. So are small dough cakes with cream inside and chocolate outside. They look like “chocolate-covered Twinkies,” Alvarez said.

Word of a large supermarket under construction down the street should prompt owners of nearby corner grocery stores to careful preparation, not despair, says Larry Picano, vice president for sales at Los Angeles-based Certified Grocers of California, a cooperative wholesale grocery distributor. The most important step is building up a loyal customer base by advertising, distributing flyers in previously untapped neighborhoods, improving customer service and holding promotional sales, he said. Remodeling also helps.

One of Solanki’s two grocery stores is in Lincoln Heights. Vons has just acquired the nearby Safeway store and is preparing to convert it into a Tianguis store actively targeting area Latinos, he said. Solanki plans to fight back by upgrading the store with new equipment, floors, pictures and a complete face lift of the exterior. “We just remodel the store and bring it up to the presentable level,” he said.

Independent grocers can also be quicker to adapt their promotions and product line to neighborhood demand, said Steven Koff, president of the Southern California Grocers Assn. For example, grocers catering to immigrants from East Asia may have especially large and varied seafood sections and pay close attention to which species of fish sells best in any given week, Picano said.