Supermarket Alternatives in Portland

Safeway
There are other places to shop than Safeway

Many of you shop at Safeway, Albertsons, and QFC and are concerned about these stores’ futures in the wake of the recent merger talk. In the tradition of “plan for the worst, hope for the best,” I went ahead and looked at what my supermarket alternatives and options are in town, and have shared my research with you in this article.

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Strawberry Shortcake Week Is Coming

Strawberries, the star of Strawberry Shortcake Week, June 10–16, 2024

Strawberry Shortcake Week is almost upon us! All next week, from Monday, June 10 to Sunday, June 16, enjoy various interpretations and variations of the strawberry shortcake around Portland (with a few spots in McMinville, Oregon City, and Salem). Produced by the James Beard Public Market, it is now in its third year.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (December 13)

Welcome to Four Things I Learned This Week! We have a nice variety this week—enjoy!

Twisted Croissant expands. Good news for Twisted Croissant fans: you’ll be able to find their products at Zupan’s Markets! Via their Instagram page: “Starting Monday @zupansmarkets will be carrying our croissants! NW Burnside, Lake Grove in Lake Oswego, SW Macadam in John’s Landing. We are excited and thrilled to be at their markets!

New Seasons sold to South Korean’s company.  Big news in the local grocery store scene: New Seasons was sold to South Korean company Emart. Sale should be finalized in the new year. New Seasons has been owned by an out of state company for a while, so now it’s owned out of the country. There was hope that it could have become worker-owned, but that did not come to pass.

Coffee molecule love. Fascinating little tidbit on Facebook: “I was told that this light fixture is a caffeine molecule! How cool is that?!! This is at Case Study Coffee on NE Alberta.”

Tinker Tavern coming to Montavilla. Not much out there right now but a new drinking and eating establishment named Tinker Tavern is opening in the old Eco Baby Gear location in  Montavilla (7890 SE Stark). The liquor license indicates Eric Mahan of Stammtisch and Prost! is involved.

Happy H Mart News in Portland

The old Zupans on SE Belmont in Portland.
The Belmont Dairy building, former home to Zupans, future home to H Mart. Photo credit: Another Believer

While in the midst of a late night internet rabbit hole session, I came across the good news that H Mart will open up shop in SE Portland in 2018. This is relatively old news in internet time, but I’m still elated about it—it means a good Korean grocery will be a short bus ride away. They’re opening up in the space that formerly held Zupans, at 3301 SE Belmont Street.

My previous experience with H Mart was in NYC; you’ll find H Marts throughout the city and in eastern New Jersey. I used to visit the original store in Woodside, Queens, still called Han Ah Reum, which in Korean means “one arm full of groceries; it’s relatively small but packed with products. Actually, a lot of H Marts can feel cramped, but there are some large megastores in New Jersey. The SE Belmont space is over 20,000 square feet, which is about half the size of the average American supermarket, but for a standard H Mart it might feel spacious. I have not been to the other H Marts in the suburbs to compare.

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