Thursday, July 31st, 2014
California based chain Seafood City Supermarket held its grand opening this morning at the Waipahu Town Center, the first branch made available in Hawai’i.
Originally made to cater the needs of the Filipino/Asian community, the store had plenty to offer from locally grown produce to fresh seafood and a variety of meat. The supermarket's fresh produce included many of the exotic Asian fruits and vegetables of which are often difficult to find at regular stores.
The stream of shopping carts wheeling around with an excited crowd of customers was no cover-up for a hyped reputation, as it did not take me long enough to see double as much hustle and bustle once I stepped foot inside the store. I was welcomed with bright, modern light fixtures, stably held from a high ceiling. There was not yet any stained aroma of fish as you would smell in a similar asian market like Pacific Supermarket, also in Waipahu. Stylish graphic posters with phrases such as “True Filipino Goodness” decorated the upper atmosphere, displaying emphasis for the market’s catered demographic.
The supermarket’s specified Asian products, as well as the rest of a regular grocer’s merchandise were not difficult to find, noticing they had an organized shelving system. The only drawback was a moment with one of the teenage workers who was not capable of offering clear directions to where a certain item [bagoong (shrimp paste)] was when asked for where to find it; having been too busy unpacking boxes on the hectic day.
“In the corner, there,” the young worker replied, as he vaguely pointed to his left and continued to unpack new merchandise, leading me to walk around in circles on an extended hunt. It didn’t take too long until I finally found the long-searched for jar of shrimp paste in the refrigerated deli section.
The shelved items were noticed to be a bit pricier rounding about thirty to forty cents higher than at Pacific Supermarket, another Asian catered supermarket in Waipahu.
The seafood service station provided a structured three step process of weighing & cleaning, frying and pick-up for the customers’ convenience if they preferred to not cook on that day. Their fresh meat costed $3.79 a lb. The poke was priced from around $8-$13 a lb. The milkfish specifically was priced at $2.49 lb. The silk snapper was $7.99 lb. In overview, the variety of fish rounded from $2 lb. all the way to $16 lb.
Also included inside was “Grill City,” a mini eatery that serves Filipino food from Filipino-style BBQ, grilled fish and sinigang to fresh lumpia and halo halo shakes with many more to offer. One stick of BBQ, with your choice of chicken or pork, costed $3, though its taste appeared to beat the price with plenty of customers who were quick to finish the sweet and accurately grilled meat. Workers gave out bread samples from “Valerio’s Bakeshop,” the yet to open bakeshop neighboring Grill City. Customers eagerly chatted amongst each other as they sat down and ate in a reasonably sized area that provided many chairs and tables to choose from. In some measure, Seafood City Supermarket may be the “new Pacific Supermarket” of Waipahu–just a bit more on the pricier side.
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