H Mart Asian mega supermarket opening store, food court in West Loop

H Mart will open a new outlet in Chicago's West Loop in 2017. The Korean-focused supermarket chain with its flagship in Niles, pictured here, aims to grab the attention of Asian students attending the University of Illinois at Chicago campus.

 (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)

Louisa ChuContact Reporter

H Mart, the Korean-focused supermarket chain, will open a location in the West Loop, its first within Chicago, in July or August 2017.

“It might be earlier,” said Niles store manager Kyu Son by phone, with customer service representative Sang Lee translating. “We wanted to open near UIC to serve a lot of Asian students.”  

The store will be 23,000 square feet with a food court inside and “definitely live seafood,” Son said. 

H Mart, a national chain based in New York, has four locations in the Chicago area. The first, and the local flagship, opened in 2006 in Niles, followed in 2007 by a second large store in Naperville. Two smaller satellite shops can also be found in Schaumburg (2013) and Glenview (2015),  which was the 52nd store nationwide.