WEST TOWN — An “American-Asian hybrid” grocery store, food court and bar will host its grand opening in West Town this weekend after an extended soft launch over the past year.
Gangnam Market, 1001 W. Chicago Ave., has taken over the former Urban Market location, the short-lived grocery store which opened in late 2021 in the ground floor of the Spoke Apartments near the Ogden/Milwaukee/Chicago intersection.
Local restaurateur and Gangnam owner Kenny Yang bought the business last year and spent several months remodeling and fine-tuning his first venture into the grocery industry.
The end result is a store with a deli, produce section, liquor and beer, plus a range of snacks, beverages and other items Yang imports from across Asia.
The retail component is accompanied by a full-service bar and six vendors selling Korean tacos, bibimbap, sushi, bakery items and more. Vendors include Seven Faced Bird Ramen, Gangnam Taco and Stringria Coffee and Tea.
Urban Market closed in 2022, and Yang took over the location in December 2022 when a friend suggested he might be interested in expanding his service industry background, he said.
Yang grew up in Chicago and went to Harper High School and the University of Illinois Chicago, he said. His parents run Kent Young Health Products, 2400 S. Wentworth Ave., in Chinatown.
After spending about a decade working in various cities across east Asia, Yang came back to Chicago in the mid-2000s to help his aging parents, and he ended up getting into the restaurant business, he said.
Besides Gangnam Market, Yang owns the Strings Ramen chain, Ken Kee in Chinatown and Gyuro Ramen in the West Loop.
With the new concept, Yang wants to give customers a chance to try his favorite Asian products and offer items you’d find in a “typical” American grocery chain, he said.
“I grew up buying a lot of stuff from Whole Foods and Jewels. So for everyone’s convenience, of course, we want to keep their local favorites and add a little spice on the Asian elements,” he said. “It’s actually a bit of local favorites with just a little bit of Asian twist. … But definitely I tried to get things that Asians growing up in Chicago will love.”
Yang also renovated the interior, adding neon signs for each department and above the checkout counters. The business’ name was inspired by the Gangnam neighborhood in Seoul and, at least a little bit, the viral hit “Gangnam Style,” he said.
“I just tried to have something really fun, for our family shopping for the weekend. And then the food court has six, seven concepts, from Asian bakery to American coffee. I just tried to have everything that I love in there,” he said.
As Yang approaches this weekend’s grand opening — when free food and drink samples will be offered — he said he’s still putting the finishing touches on Gangnam Market, but he is finally ready to unveil his full vision to the neighborhood.
“Hopefully, people will like my idea. And there’s a lot to learn. Like Jewels, Whole Foods, they’re huge, huge competition. They have big supply chains. We are so small, but I’ll try to give people a little bit of a unique destination, feeling,” Yang said.
Gangnam Market is open 8 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. The food court is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
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