H Mart is the largest U.S.-based supermarket chain specializing in Asian groceries and housewares, with more than 97 stores in 14 states including six in Texas, according to H Mart’s website.

It currently has local stores in Plano and Carrollton. Now, H Mart is opening a location in Haltom City, the city announced Wednesday.

“H Mart is America’s premier Asian food destination and provides groceries and everyday essential needs as well as upscale products,” H Mart’s about page says. “H Mart offers a full line of Asian foods as well as a broad range of Western groceries to complement its full scale offering to that of a traditional supermarket.”

The “H” in H Mart stands for “han ah reum,” a Korean phrase that roughly translates to “one arm full of groceries.”

“H Mart is where parachute kids go to get the exact brand of instant noodles that reminds them of home. It’s where Korean families buy rice cakes to make tteokguk, a beef soup that brings in the new year,” Crying in H Mart author Michelle Zauner writes. “It’s the only place where you can find a giant vat of peeled garlic, because it’s the only place that truly understands how much garlic you’ll need for the kind of food your people eat. H Mart is freedom from the single-aisle ‘ethnic’ section in regular grocery stores.”

H Mart opened in 1982 with a store in Woodside, Queens. At the time, only about 1.5% of the American population was of Asian descent, according to the New York Times.

The founder, a farmer’s son named Il Yeon Kwon left South Korea in the late 1970s and moved to New York, and he remains CEO of the family business.

The chain of Asian supermarkets is operated by the Hanahreum Group, headquartered in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

This story was originally published August 10, 2023, 11:32 AM.

HUBA has asked city leaders to create overlay districts encompassing the older corridors and to relax or eliminate parking minimums for new business startups in these areas.

HALTOM CITY, TX, March 17, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The members of the Haltom United Business Alliance (HUBA) want to see Haltom City's older neighborhoods revitalized, particularly in the declining south and central areas of the city.

Over the past 18 months, HUBA has repeatedly urged City Council members to recognize the special challenges faced by the older parts of the city. HUBA has asked city leaders to create overlay districts encompassing the older corridors and to relax or eliminate parking minimums for new business startups in these areas.

A few years ago, Buffalo, New York ditched parking minimums. So did Fayetteville, Arkansaw. In January 2023, California dropped them statewide. Oregon abandoned them in many of its metros. Nashville has proposed doing the same for the city core. Will Haltom City trail the other cities by decades, as it has in most innovations? Joe Palmer, Director of Communications for HUBA, hopes not.

In Baltimore and in many other US cities, businesses are swapping parking for patio space. During Covid, Baltimore restaurants instituted parklets to accommodate outside dining and now the city is looking at making those permanent since they are a much more productive use of the space and have not created parking issues.

Other small cities have acted to scale back or eliminate parking requirements and they are seeing a "surge in activity to transform previously derelict buildings into shops, apartments and restaurants," according to a story in The Guardian newspaper.

Those projects became viable once parking minimums were not part of the equation.

"The leaders in Haltom City took no action, even though easing parking minimums would cost the city nothing and help bring small businesses back to the areas of Haltom City that need them the most," said Sturgeon.

The older parts of Haltom City have recently lost Kroger, CVS, Big Lots and Fire Cup Coffee. "The city should be open to new ideas for steps to try to lower the barriers for startups in its beleaguered corridors so that small businesses can be lured back to fill the many vacancies," says Joe Palmer.

"The only way to bring a grocery store back and to bring the restaurants that many residents want back is to make Haltom City the best city in the area to start many kinds of small businesses. This happens one business at a time," Sturgeon says. Easing or eliminating parking minimums in hard hit areas is one step in that direction.

Sturgeon has launched a campaign to bring together those who care about the economic future of all of Haltom City, including its older parts. The campaign is focused on the reforms necessary to make Haltom City the most small-business-friendly city in Tarrant County to lure back the businesses and the private investment necessary to make the corridors bustle again.

Learn more by visiting Make Haltom City Thrive Again or the Make Haltom City Thrive Again Facebook page.

About Haltom City Haltom City is a diverse, majority working-class city located between Dallas and Fort Worth in Tarrant County, TX. Haltom City is minutes from both the DFW Airport and Downtown Fort Worth with direct access to major highways including I-820 and SH-121. Due to an outdated and restrictive use matrix that discourages new business and deters growth, several areas of Haltom City have seen a decline in small businesses which provided goods and services and were a significant source of jobs, including the once-thriving automotive industry. However, Haltom City has the opportunity to reverse this trend and should prioritize development of inner-city land and vacant buildings, particularly in the major corridors close to the city's center. The city is financially healthy with a capable manager and staff who would like to see diverse business development occur and need the support of the City Council to make it happen.

About Haltom United Business Alliance Haltom United Business Alliance (HUBA) is a group of business owners dedicated to making Haltom City the most business-friendly city in Tarrant County. HUBA recognizes the contributions of small business owners to community and their unique role in providing jobs, goods and services, and greater choice to the people of Haltom City. HUBA believes innovative strategies are needed to create a strong business tax base to allow residential tax reductions. All Haltom City business owners are eligible to join HUBA. For more information, contact Joe Palmer at (682) 310-0591 or by email at HUBAgrp@gmail.com or visit the group's Facebook page at Haltom United Business Alliance.

About Make Haltom City Thrive Again The Make Haltom City Thrive Again is a movement to return prosperity to the older parts of South and Central Haltom City by luring the small businesses that have left over the past decades back to Haltom City. A vibrant business community not only allows for greater employment and choice of goods and services, but also can ease the tax burden on residents. The movement is led by local entrepreneur and business owner Ron Sturgeon. For more on Sturgeon's ideas and background, check out his book, Keeping the Lights on Downtown in America's Small Cities and watch the videos on his Facebook page. Ron is also the founder of the Haltom United Business Alliance (HUBA) which represents existing business interests in Haltom City and promotes growth of diverse businesses. HUBA is not a political action committee and does not endorse candidates. If/when Ron endorses candidates, he will do so on his own via the Make Haltom City Thrive Again organization.

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Joe PalmerHaltom United Business AllianceHaltom City, TexasUnited StatesVoice: 682-310-0591E-Mail: Email Us Here

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The Fort Worth Asian community and all fans of Asian food and products have reason to rejoice. Many have been hiking to Carrollton for years to get their groceries (and a whole lot more) at the massive Asian market known as H Mart. Now Haltom City plans to bring one much closer to home. New plans call for a 50 acre mixed-use development to include an estimated 16-acre shopping center — with a new H Mart as one of its core tenants.

Way beyond a mere Asian grocery store, an H Mart shopping center brings everything from clothing and shoes to eateries, tea shops, coffee shops and salons ? in attached satellite suites. Much like you find in and around train stations throughout Asia, which become a shopping hub for the community.

H Mart is truly a destination shopping experience.

This figures to be a major economic boost for the Fort Worth suburb of Haltom City, which boasts a large Vietnamese, Laotian and Chinese population. Haltom City’s aging infrastructure and architecture are stuck in a bit of a time warp with most buildings constructed in the 1950s and 1960s.

That makes 50 acres of new development an even bigger deal.

Haltom City hopes that the arrival of H Mart will be a catalyst for growth in the community, as these mega Asian grocery superstores have become a magnet in other communities, attracting other surrounding businesses who want to be in close proximity.

Bering's Gifts

“We are particularly excited and humbled that H Mart has chosen to locate their seventh Texas store in our city,” Haltom City mayor Dr. An Truong says. “H Mart is one of the fastest-growing grocery chains in America and Canada. H Mart will improve and expand our shopping experience.”

H Mart began in New York in 1982. It first opened as Han Ah Reum ? a Korean phrase meaning “arm full of groceries” (but, believe me, you’ll leave with a basket full). This Asian market powerhouse now operates 125 locations in 14 different states. In Texas, you’ll find them in Carrolton, Plano, Austin (which opened in 2018), Katy and Houston ? with another new one slated for the Koreatown section of Dallas. That H Mart will be located at 2534 Royal Lane.

Housed inside these Asian wonderlands you’ll find beautifully packed produce (many fruits and vegetables that you simply cannot find anywhere else), and meats perfectly packaged for Asian recipes like thin slices of beef for shabu-shabu (a Japanese soup dish).

The prepared foods are filled with a wide selection of traditional kimchis, a wall of miso varieties and chili oils to turn up the heat on any dish. At H Mart, the fish market alone is the most extensive one in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex ? with dried fishes of all types, ready-made sashimi-grade platters, plus live lobsters and clams.

You could waste an hour knocking around the tea selection at H Mart, peruse the amazing variety of cooking sauces and lose all control in the awe-inspiring snack aisle. Where else can you procure 20 pound bags of rice, along with household staples from tea kettles to rice cookers, plus specialty Asian cosmetics and an array of frozen goods?

At H Mart, the vast selection is multi-cultural, featuring name brands that many now know well and end up searching for elsewhere. Here you can find the sesame oil that grandmother uses, or the exact brand of boba pearls from someone’s uncle’s tiny tea shop in their hometown. It’s a feast for the eyes and a shopping experience that so many of us crave.

“The store will feature a sit-down food court, a bakery, home goods, beer and wine, kitchenware, beauty products, and many other items,” a release promises. “H Mart is also known for its innovative new food halls which are an extension of over 30 years of providing eateries in its stores.”

The Haltom City development is currently in the approval phase, with the actual construction of the site hopefully beginning as early as the first quarter of 2024. In addition to the new anchor H Mart, there will be approximately 50 to 60 commercial outlets that will be comprised of restaurants, merchandise retail stores and distribution and logistics centers.

The new development will be located on the Southeast corner at the intersection of Loop 820 and Beach Street. The frontage road of Loop 820 will front the new Asian superstore and large retail shopping center.

There is a lot to look forward to in Haltom City. And the H Mart anticipation has already begun.

According to Sturgeon, Haltom City's current leaders don't seem to recognize that they are competing for small business start-ups with nearby cities.

HALTOM CITY, TX, February 21, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Make Haltom City Thrive Again recently posted a press release to its Facebook page that asked this provocative question: "How did Northeast 28th Street get so run down?"

It turns out that in 2002 Haltom City Council was seized with a desire to beatify that stretch of Haltom City by driving out the small car dealers. They overhauling zoning creating a special category for car dealers (C-5) and gave the dealers a short time to come in and request the change to the new zoning or their use would become legal, non-conforming, meaning the use could continue but that it didn't fit the city's vision for the area.

Most of the small car dealers didn't come in to get rezoned, so they became legal non-conforming and could not make improvements to their properties if they stayed car dealerships.

Flash forward and the businesses became run down. Some even closed, the intent of the changes. Unfortunately, the small lot sizes and set back requirements meant that the former car lots could not be redeveloped easily, so they sat vacant, and the seeds were sown for the blight that is NE 28th Street today.

"Go back 50 years and Haltom City had a brand as an automotive city, a good place to go to buy or sell a car and a good place to take your car to have it serviced. NE 28th Street was a row of mostly tidy small car lots and mechanics with dealer's licenses so they could fix and sell cars," says Ron Sturgeon, a serial entrepreneur who started his first business, a VW repair shop, in Haltom City more than fifty years ago and currently leads the effort to Make Haltom City Thrive Again.

Commenting on the story on Facebook, Adrian Ali summarized what happened this way: "NIMBYists went out of their way to attack small businesses, and it backfired."

More recently, Haltom City Council was again seized by the NIMBY impulse when it voted 6-1 to restrict new automotive businesses (car repair, battery sales, tire sales) to the industrial and heavy industrial zoned areas and to make all such businesses outside those zones legal non-conforming.

"Once again, the NIMBY impulse will drive out businesses, lessen choices for consumers in Haltom City, decrease employment in the city and eventually force the city to tax residents at a higher rate to make up lost business taxes," says Sturgeon.

MakeHaltomCityThriveAgain, is an effort to help the Haltom City return to its former level of prosperity by making it the most business-friendly city in Tarrant County so that small businesses can be lured back to fill the many vacant commercial properties.

The initiative recently launched a billboard campaign to bring attention to the effort to return prosperity to the older parts of Haltom City. The first two billboards state: "Bring the Businesses Back" and "It's Time for a Change" to make Haltom City thrive again. The third billboard in the series is clear: "We Need New Leaders."

According to Sturgeon, Haltom City's current leaders don't seem to recognize that they are competing for small business start-ups with nearby cities. For Haltom City to attract businesses and "win" the competition, it must have a better value proposition overall. As it stands now, Haltom City's time-consuming red tape and challenging use matrix, and NIMBY attitudes do more to discourage small businesses than to attract them.

"Because our current leaders don't recognize the need to attract more small businesses, they have not taken the first steps to develop a plan to achieve that goal," says Sturgeon. The Make Haltom City Thrive Again website and Facebook page include a detailed concept plan with many steps that cities that want to revitalize struggling older sections can take right away.

If you live or work in Haltom City, you have a vested interest in a brighter future for yourself and your community, you are invited to join the effort by following the Facebook page and sharing your thoughts and ideas with Ron to refine the concept plan.

If you or someone you know might be interested in running for Haltom City Council, contact Ron Sturgeon.

About Haltom City Haltom City is a diverse, majority working-class city located between Dallas and Fort Worth in Tarrant County, TX. Haltom City is minutes from both the DFW Airport and Downtown Fort Worth with direct access to major highways including I-820 and SH-121. Due to an outdated and restrictive use matrix that discourages new business and deters growth, several areas of Haltom City have seen a decline in small businesses which provided goods and services and were a significant source of jobs, including the once-thriving automotive industry. However, Haltom City can reverse this trend and should prioritize development of inner-city land and vacant buildings, particularly in the major corridors close to the city's center. The city is financially healthy with a capable manager and staff who would like to see diverse business development occur and need the support of the City Council to make it happen.

About Make Haltom City Thrive Again The Make Haltom City Thrive Again website offers information and resources about its purpose and goals. For more on Sturgeon's personal ideas and background, check out his book Keeping the Lights on Downtown in America's Small Cities and watch the videos on his Facebook page. Ron is also the founder of the Haltom United Business Alliance (HUBA) which represents existing business interests in Haltom City and promotes growth of diverse businesses as well. HUBA is not a political action committee and does not endorse candidates. If/when Ron endorses candidates, he will do so on his own with the Make Haltom City Thrive Again organization.

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If you are interested in running for Council or Mayor or helping in other ways, please contact Ron Sturgeon at rons@rdsinvestments.com.

HALTOM CITY, TX, January 20, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As far as revitalization strategies for South & Central Haltom City, a local business alliance believes the current Haltom City Mayor and Haltom City Council are not doing enough.

"The sum total of efforts by the Mayor and Haltom City Council is a 30-year Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TRIZ) that does not even cover NE 28th Street," said Haltom United Business Alliance Director of Communications Joe Palmer.

A TIRZ will take a while to have any money and then the money can only be used for public improvements, such as sidewalks or water and sewer lines. None of the funds can be used to renovate privately owned buildings to make them ready for new small-business tenants, for example.

"Bringing back the corridors in the older parts of Haltom, Denton Highway, Carson, NE 28th Street, will require attracting small businesses back to these areas one at a time," says Palmer. "A TIRZ is not designed to help with that, and it won't," he added.

HUBA believes that the declining parts of Haltom City cannot afford to wait 30 years for a TIRZ.

Founded in 2020, the Haltom United Business Alliance (HUBA) is a group of small business owners who, among other things, continually advocate for strategies that will reverse decline in the south and central areas of the city.

According to HUBA Founder Ron Sturgeon, "HUBA has reached out to the city council repeatedly to collaborate on this issue. We've submitted ideas that would help encourage economic growth in these areas, offered free mentoring of small business owners through a city-HUBA partnership, and hired and paid for an independent consultant to draft recommendations for economic development. To date, we do not know of a single idea that has even been considered by the Council or the Mayor."

For this reason, HUBA is encouraging broad-minded individuals who are resourceful and open to new ideas to run for Haltom City Council and to run for Mayor in the May 6 city election. Candidates must file before February 17, 2023. Filing instructions and a candidate packet is available on the Haltom City Secretary's webpage.

"Haltom City needs council members and a mayor who are not in denial about the parts of the city that have declined and who will advocate for policies that promote private sector businesses, strengthen the tax base, and cultivate healthy neighborhoods." According to Palmer, the main corridors along Denton Highway, Carson, NE 28th Street and Belknap need urgent help.

Sturgeon has launched a campaign to bring together those who care about the economic future of all of Haltom City, including its older parts. The campaign is focused on the reforms necessary to make Haltom City the most small-business-friendly city in Tarrant County to lure back the businesses and the private investment necessary to make the corridors bustle again. Learn more by visiting Make Haltom City Thrive Again or the Make Haltom City Thrive Again Facebook page.

If you are interested in running for Council or Mayor or helping in other ways, please contact Ron Sturgeon at rons@rdsinvestments.com or by calling him at the number on the Make Haltom City Thrive website.

About Haltom United Business Alliance The Haltom United Business Alliance (HUBA) represents existing business interests in Haltom City and strives to promote growth of diverse businesses as well. Founder Ron Sturgeon recently co-authored and published a new book — Keeping the Lights on Downtown in America's Small Cities — which offers key strategies for revitalizing America's inner-city areas. All Haltom City business owners are eligible to join. Dues are $20 annually or $50 for a lifetime membership, and membership is 100% confidential. For more information, contact Joe Palmer by phone at (682) 310-0591 or email HUBAgrp@gmail.com or visit the HUBA Facebook Page.

About Haltom City Haltom City is a medium-sized city between Dallas and Fort Worth in Tarrant County, TX. The city is diverse and majority working class, with a growing population that is approximately 10% Asian-American and 45% Hispanic. Haltom City benefits from being only minutes from both DFW Airport and Downtown Fort Worth, with direct access to major highways including I-820 and SH-121. Small businesses that have historically provided products, services, and jobs to residents included a once thriving automotive industry. The city has seen a decline in small businesses, especially automotive businesses. The city is healthy financially, with median household income growing around 8% in the past year. Haltom City has opportunity for continued growth through undeveloped land and many vacant buildings, especially in major corridors close to the city's center.

About Make Haltom City Thrive Again The Make Haltom City Thrive Again website offers information and resources about its purpose and goals. For more on Sturgeon's personal ideas and background, check out his book Keeping the Lights on Downtown in America's Small Cities and watch the videos on his Facebook page. Ron is also the founder of the Haltom United Business Alliance (HUBA) which represents existing business interests in Haltom City and promotes growth of diverse businesses as well. HUBA is not a political action committee and does not endorse candidates. If/when Ron endorses candidates, he will do so on his own with the Make Haltom City Thrive Again organization.

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