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At 8,000 square feet, it isn't supermarket-sized, but it seems like it compared to other shops in the area.
Owner Hyun Bang owned the Han Mi market in Troy for seventeen years and had actually intended to retire three years ago. The grocery business had been good to him, and he was looking for an investment: "My broker recommended this property, and at first I think rental property," he says, but after designing the building, which replaced two vacant houses on the corner of Packard and Maplewood, he decided he wasn't quite ready to retire. (There's also a small space in the building for a tenant. He's looking for a Korean hairdresser.)
Bang is carrying the same groceries he had at Han Mi, though this store is bigger. Anything you'd want for Korean cooking is here; in addition, about 20 percent of the store is devoted to Japanese groceries. Tofu is a big seller--and so is chili paste, and non-GMO and organic products like soybean sprouts and rice. Bang also sells kimchi made daily by his wife.
Galleria, 3111 Packard. 975-8900. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. 1-7 p.m.