Last September, W. caught the view below of the inside of the former Jin Market at 111 Hudson — what is scheduled to be an H Mart. My peek inside just a couple weeks ago was not much different. The man I met said they were having trouble with the building, which seems odd to me since the owner of H Mart owns the commercial condo, which was for sale for years.

I have never been able to confirm directly with the company — and a friend of a friend even called them in Korean. Still, it was solid tip I got back in 2023 and James Bogardus then did a deep dive on the Department of Finance records on the sale and learned the deed included the same address and suite number as “Hana Mart Tribeca Corp” as well as the same last name of the owner of H Mart. (See James’ brilliant connecting of the dots from 2024 below.)

Jin Market closed in June 2022, so this is a longtime coming. At least the sidewalks were restored and now the scaffolding is gone, so…progress!

H Mart started in 1982 with a single store in Woodside and now has more than 97 stores across the United States. (Oddly, when you search locations on their site, none pop up in Manhattan, but Google Maps shows four in the borough, including one on Third and 10th.) The store offers a full line of Asian foods as well as a broad range of Western groceries, and it is also known for its prepared food sections.

FROM JAMES BOGARDUS:
The managing member of HK Development:
* has the same last name as the owner of H Mart
* is listed on the deed with the same address and suite number as “Hana Mart Tribeca Corp.”
* was listed with a New York, NY address as an officer of Gmart Westminster Corporation, doing business as H Mart, 5036 West 92nd Avenue, Westminster, CO” in a 2014 Notice of Public Hearing for a retail liquor license
* is listed as a contact for “Hana Mart Columbia Corp. d/b/a Han Ah Reum Supermarket, 2828 Broadway”
* owns a home in Englewood Cliffs with Kingston Shih, quoted as an H Mart employee in this story: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2020/03/20/asian-american-grocery-stores-not-short-on-supplies–just-customers
* was deposed in a 2002 federal labor lawsuit as “the daughter of defendant Kwon” and “comptroller and currently as its director of management” where one of the named defendants was
“Han Ah Reum Inc.” — The Times article states, “Mr. Kwon’s first store still stands in Woodside, with a blue awning that bears H Mart’s original name, Han Ah Reum. This is commonly translated from Korean as “an armful,” but has a poetic nuance, invoking warmth and care, as in an embrace.”