As part of the US expansion, an Asian market will be opened in the San Jose shopping center

SAN JOSE — An Asian-themed supermarket will open its first store in California next year after leasing a large space in a San Jose shopping center, marking another expansion drive for the grocery chain.

T&T Supermarkets is set to move into Westgate Center, an outlet and restaurant center at 1600 Saratoga Avenue in southwest San Jose, according to documents filed Aug. 12 with the Santa Clara County Registry of Deeds.

The Canada-based Asian supermarket chain said its future San Jose location will total 5,190 square meters and is the site of a former Walmart store.

The new T&T Supermarkets store is set to become a unique retail destination not only for Westgate Center, but for the entire South Bay region. The Asian store is scheduled to open its doors in 2025.

“We want to create a destination,” said Tina Lee, CEO of T&T Supermarkets. “It’s a place of discovery, innovation and bringing people together through food.”

T&T Supermarkets believes it can achieve this bold goal by making the store of the future more than just a place to buy groceries.

“It’s a place of discovery, innovation and bringing people together through food,” Lee said. “We want to evolve our grocery store beyond just being functional. We want to be the place people want to go, not just have to go.”

Federal Realty Investment Trust, the primary owner of Westgate Center, and T&T Supermarkets have entered into a lease agreement. The lease allows the Asian grocery store to rent the space for 10 years, according to county records. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

According to public records, T&T Supermarkets was also given the option to extend the lease for up to four option periods of five years each.

Federal Realty is also the primary owner and developer of Santana Row, an attractive mixed-use community at the corner of Stevens Creek Boulevard and South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose.

T&T Supermarkets currently operates over 33 stores across Canada and offers a “unique full-service shopping experience.” T&T Supermarkets offers “authentic Asian products, fresh produce, a full-service meat counter, live seafood tanks and an in-store prepared meals program,” the retailer added.

The new location will include a grill counter, noodle station, dim sum and street food section, hot food bar and made-to-order Chinese crepes station. The store will also have its own bakery with freshly made delicacies such as mochi puffs, egg tarts, Hong Kong-style pastries and custom cakes.

Customers can also try the grocery chain’s own-brand products, including pineapple cakes, Taiwanese sausages, pork soup dumplings and spring onion pancakes.

A top executive at Federal Realty said he was impressed when he visited a T&T Supermarkets branch in Canada.

“The first time I visited a T&T, I was absolutely ecstatic,” said Jeff Kreshek, president of Federal Realty’s western region. “When I came back from Canada, I thought, ‘We have to make this happen.’ People don’t know what they’re missing out on.”

The new T&T market is expected to create 200 jobs. Anyone who would like to apply can visit the T&T Supermarkets website, the supermarket chain says.

The San Jose store would be T&T’s first market in the Bay Area and only its third in the United States.

But for company boss Lee, the South Bay location also represents a personal achievement.

“San Jose is a very special place for me,” Lee said. “My aunt lives in Saratoga and I spent many summers there. It brings back great memories. This store is for her.”

Originally published: August 15, 2024 at 5:15 am

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