b'C o m m u n i t yV-Mart Asian Market Opens on South SideAbove/Left: Thousands turn out for the much anticipated grand opening of V-Mart Asian Supermarket, in March; Above: Vast selection of Asian cuisine offered in the V-Mart Food Corpus Christi entrepreneurs bring hard-to-find, authentic East AsianCourt; Below: Imported and specialty Asian food productsproducts to the Coastal Bendalong with fresh Asian food made daily.For a period of about a year, commuters on CorpusWe just saw on open need for these special, import-Christis far south side, in the area where Yorktown,ed products, here in Corpus Christi, said Zhai Wang, RoddField,andAirlineRoadsconverge,observedSome items could not be located anywhere in Tex-steady construction progress on what could have beenas, but only through the ports on the East and West a number of commercial buildingbut would emergeCoasts, especially Los Angeles and New York.with a sign reading V-Mart, which still did not conveyThose who grew up or have lived for long periods in what would be delivered on the 3+ acre site. East Asian countries find at V-Mart the spices, pro-By the end of 2023, a deft murmur grew into a roaringteins, rice, kimchi, and canned ingredients that deliv-buzz about something special on the horizon. V-Marter the exact taste and texture of the authentic dish-wasannouncedasa10,000-square-footAsiansu- es they know from home. What is most exciting for permarket and food court at 3809 Airline Road thatmany V-Mart customers is finding candies, sodas, and would bring the Coastal Bend thousands of importedsnacks imported from their original countries.and specially prepared products that could not beWhen customers walk in saying, Oh my gosh, that found locally, but only in the major Texas cities. Somecandy is the taste of my childhood. Oh wow! You have food products, in fact, were previously available onlythat ice cream from China! Things like that make me near the major ports in Los Angeles and New York. proud, Zhai Wang told KRIS News.CorpusChristientrepreneursCiciZhaiWangandThousands of eager supporters from throughout the Zoe Tran, the former of Chinese heritage and theCoastalBendturnedoutforthegrandopeningof latter of Vietnamese, have made their names in theV-Mart that took place on Saturday, March 23 rd . Police, city by bringing Asian food concepts here that hadfirefighters, and news media showed up en masse, been proven winners on the West Coast, specificallyand traditional East Asian entertainers, organized by gourmet ramen, poke, and new Asian fusion. In thethe Museum of Asian Cultures, brought exuberance operation of their restaurants, they found themselvesand joy to the celebration. V-Marts success is a strong, regularly traveling hundreds of miles for product. positive development for the Coastal Bends economy.72THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE TheCoastalBend.com'