Sunday, March 16, 2014

Photos: H Mart's Progress

Update 5/6/14: H Mart Cambridge is finally open! & H Mart Japanese groceries

Mass Ave. entrance

I went to H Mart last week to check on their progress but discovered after I got there that I'd forgotten my camera! I managed to make it back there today. All three signs (they have three entrances) were up last week, although I don't know when they went up.

Don't let the shiny exteriors fool you though. You won't be eating curry and ramen there any time soon. At the end of January they told the Cambridge Chronicle that they planned to open in April, but with April just two weeks away, I don't see that happening. There are construction materials everywhere, wires dangling from the ceiling, and the floors and walls aren't finished. They have a lot more work to do before they can even begin the lengthy inspection process.

When I texted a picture of the interior to a friend last week he commented that maybe they wouldn't open until next year. The store has been plagued with delays so anything is possible. The Globe first reported that H Mart had signed the lease on the old Harvest Co-op space in June 2012. At one point H Mart was optimistically projecting a February 2013 opening, but it was apparently delayed due to power issues with the building. Then they were saying late fall 2013. Then they told the vendors they could move into their spaces in January 2014. Now here we are in March with their last projected opening date next month. Perhaps I should start a pool? When do you think H Mart will open? Leave a comment with month, date, and year!

Food court
Grocery store
Grocery store
Essex St. entrance
Lot 5 entrance

4 comments:

  1. It looks like vendors have started hiring! I'm getting cautiously optimistic that it'll be open by summer.

    http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/fbh/4377692852.html

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    1. Thanks for sharing! Although that only means that Go Go Curry has begun collecting applications, not that they're hiring yet. I admit I'm surprised they've posted so soon. Given what I've seen in the store and the behind-the-scenes stuff I've heard about but don't have permission to talk about I wouldn't have expected to see a job posting so soon. But they're a chain so they may have a lot of corporate processes to go through in order to hire.

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  2. They are opening on april 23 according to their website http://www.hmart.com/company_new/grand_open.asp?loc=cambridge_open

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    1. Thanks! I went by there today and things were looking a little better. I noticed they had a hiring sign up. I'm kind of surprised they've already announced the grand opening since it looked like they still had more to do before they could get inspected but I assume they wouldn't have announced it if they weren't sure they'd be opening then.

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