Weird things go mainstream
HERE’S a case study for would-be MBAs to consider: the success of H Mart, an international supermarket chain based in New Jersey (the "H" in H Mart stands for Han Ah Reum, which means "one arm full of groceries" in Korean). The first H Mart opened in Queens, New York in 1982, as a corner shop. Now there are stores in 11 states, Canada and Britain. A new one recently opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, an affluent city outside Boston.在这里给有志成为工商管理硕士的人一道案例分析题，H Mart的成功。H Mart是一家以新泽西州为据点的全球性连锁超级市场（H Mart里的H是韩文韩亚龙的缩写，装满食品杂货店的一只手的意思）。1982年第一家H Mart，一家街角商店在纽约昆斯区开张。现在在加拿大，英国等是一个国家拥有店铺。最近在美国马塞诸塞州凯布里奇，波士顿外的妇人城区又新开张了一家。
The future looks bright for H Mart and other Asian supermarket chains in America. Earnings of Asian-American households outpace the national average. Their spending exceeds all other groups, too, according to Geoscape, a consultancy. And Asian-Americans spend more of their money on groceries than average America households.
H Mart和其他在美国的亚系超级超市的未来看起来一片光明。亚裔美国人家庭的收入超过美国平均水准。根据叫Geoscape的咨询公司说，他们的消费额也比其它人比起来多。而且，亚裔美国人家庭花更多的钱在食品杂货店上。
Americans have developed greater appetite for cooking and eating Asian foods, too. In 2012 non-restaurant sales of Asian foods topped $1.5 billion, according to Mintel Group, a market-research firm. Though Latin foods are a bigger market, the popularity of Asian foods is growing faster. Once strange-seeming imports like seaweed and sashimi are now fashionable foodstuffs. Though the rate of growth is expected to fall, sales of Asian foods are likely to keep rising.
美国人也变得更喜欢吃亚系食物了。根据一家市场调查公司Mintel Group的说法，2012年亚系食物的非餐厅销售额达到了十五亿美元。尽管拉丁食物的市场更大，但亚系食物的普及化更快。曾经看起来很奇怪的进口食物，像海藻，刺身现在都已是常见的素材了。尽管增长率预计可能要下降，但销售额却可能依然持续增长。
But Asian delicacies can be hard to come by. Few Americans are likely to see durian or bamboo shoots in their local shop. Some specialty ingredients are only to be found at a premium in up-market grocery stores, or miles away, in ethnic markets in older Asian neighbourhoods.
但是亚系美味很难入手。很少有美国人能在当地商店里看见榴莲或者是竹笋。一些特产的原料只能在高级食品杂货店的附赠商品或者几英里远的旧亚系住宅区的种族超市里找到。
Even so, most Asian grocers have not made efforts to reach new customers, says Jeffrey Cohen, an analyst at IBIS World, an industry-watcher. Many shops are located in minority enclaves, and do little to market themselves to other Americans. Cramped car parks and dim interiors put off customers used to the bright lights of mainstream supermarkets. Ingredients labelled with poorly translated English can leave shoppers baffled.
即便如此，一位IBISWorld的分析师，市场观察者Jeffrey Cohen称大多数的亚系食品杂货商还没有努力争取顾客。许多商店坐落在种族集居地，很少网络其他美国人。狭窄的停车场，昏暗的室内环境都让习惯于主流超市明亮灯光的顾客无所适从。贴着翻译得乱七八糟的英文标签的商品让顾客困扰。
A few Asian grocery chains have caught on, opening stores in more diverse suburbs, paying attention to cosmetic niceties, and marketing more widely. Other than H Mart, there are Californian chains such as 99 Ranch Market and Shun Fat Supermarket, which have been expanding into the American southwest. 99 Ranch Market was even featured in a humorous YouTube music video—"Asians Eat Weird Things"—which has been watched more than 900, 000 times. As American eating and shopping habits change, however, those weird things do seem so weird after all.
一些亚系食品杂货连锁店已经流行起来了，在各种郊区开店，注意店面细节，并且广泛销售。除了H Mart，还有像大华超市，顺发超市等加利福尼亚连锁店，已经发展到美国西南方了。大华超市的特色是一部幽默的youtube音乐视频，“亚洲人吃怪东西”，这部视频已被观看超过了九十万次。虽然美国人的饮食和购物习惯已经发生了改变，但那些怪东西还是看起来很怪
Today, IBISWorld employs teams of analysts in the US, UK and Australia that scour economic, demographic and government data so you don’t have to. IBISWorld research provides your organization with valuable industry market research and procurement research, so you can make better business decisions, faster.
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