There's a New Korean Market in Town...

[Joe Blowe]

and it's name is Freshia.

http://www.google.com/maps?q=2515+Tor...

The site of a now-defunct Albertson's, it is Torrance's second Korean grocery store, AFAIK.

Grand opening was today, and I caught it by luck. Much more upscale than MarketWorld, and looks to be emulating the Koreatown markets -- sleek displays, sexy lighting, the whole bit.

It was packed with Koreans scoring opening-day specials, so I didn't stick around for too long -- it was a madhouse. But, will definitely be checking in on it from time to time...

[Joe Blowe]

Freshia has closed its doors:

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_18904894
==============
[...] Company officials could not be reached for comment. However, the entire Garden Grove-based chain - including outlets in Tustin and Garden Grove - has shut down in recent months. The Torrance location was the last one.

The chain of Korean markets had reportedly been in decline for some months and tenants, including the Kyochen Chicken outlet in the store that some regarded as the best fried chicken in Southern California, had gradually left.

Freshia opened in the Torrance location after Albertsons closed its small, dated, "underperforming" store there in January 2006. Before that it had been a Lucky supermarket, a chain Albertsons acquired in 1999.

City officials said this week they had not yet heard whether any other retailer was planning to move into the location.
==============

I last visited the store about a month ago, and things looked pretty rough around there -- the writing was clearly on the wall.

Market World FTW, I guess...

[Clinton]

I inquired about three weeks ago with an employee still there before they closed the door and she said that they were remodeling and will reopen in about a month. That's the last I heard.

[soniabegonia]

What a crappy name... doesn't work well in Korean either.

Kind of like Famima.. crappy name.

[Tripeler]

Famima is the shortened version of Family Mart in Japan, a chain of convenience stores. At least it is better than the shortened version of First Kitchen, a chain of fast food places, which is known as "faa-ki".

-----
Famima
25 N Raymond Ave, Pasadena, CA 91103

[catbert]

hmmm... well i kinda think that's a bit of a harsh comment. i liked how they would say "freshia" when they would run commercials during korean programming on la-18 and "famima" makes sense to me since as tripeler said, it's short for "family mart."

[catbert]

i'm not surprised. after zion took over, it became a downhill slope and i stopped going. h-mart is a strong competitor. i wonder what's going to happen to zion...?

[SauceSupreme]

I finally made it here. Don't take this the wrong way, but it's almost jarring to see an Asian market look that clean. With the inclusion of the side eateries, perhaps it's trying to be the Korean equivalent of Mitsuwa, which isn't a bad goal to have in mind. Not all the fish were of good quality, but there were still some pretty good catches. The produce section looked excellent also. I walked out of there with a nifty little steamer/collander along with roasted barley tea and some marinated short ribs.

[spicychow]

I'm new to chowhound, and I'm so glad I started lurking here, if only because I found out about this market! I would've never gone in even though I work in the area if I hadn't read about it here.

Well, after reading the posts today, I went by, and I was very impressed with the cleanliness, produce selection and the fresh fish available. Especially the fruit section... very nice looking fruit/produce for such a good price!

Anyways, just wanted to thank you guys for letting me know. I did wish the food court was a little more substantial, but at least there are couple of food stands. I'll definitely do most of my grocery shopping there from now on.

[mstinawu]

We really don't need another Korean or Japanese supermarket around here.. They should've put a Ranch 99 there! =P

[ccognac]

I went last night...pretty nice! I was impressed by the fresh meat and seafood area....I ended up getting some of the bbq pork to take home and grill....it was tasty, even my wife and kids liked it.....plus you can get thin shaved rib eye to us in your cheesesteaks!

[mstinawu]

I took home some pre marinated short ribs. They were tasty, but so fatty! My arteries felt clogged after the meal.

[Howie Subnick]

HK has not changed from what I can tell. The parking lot is jammed as usual. Still the best produce in town.

[charlesrim]

they have valet parking with no charge on friday through sunday. it appears to be stil very busy from what i can tell. love the lighting and design. gives the impression of a homely atmosphere. they had particuarly fresh fish and various meet. worth checking out for asian food items!!! the bakery Tous Les Jours, which is a subsidiary of CJ Food, appears to have fresh bakery items all the time.

[Chelmoon]

Finally got a chance to stop by. Not as big as some of the 99 Ranch Markets, but definitely the nicest Asian market I've been in as far as aesthetics, lighting, and cleanliness are concerned. Very interesting selection of foods and the seasoned meats are a great idea.

[Afty]

The HK Market on Redhill in the city of Tustin is also a Freshia market now. They must have made the change within the last week. I have not had a chance to go in yet to see what kind of changes have been made so far.

[choctastic]

they also had sales. we stocked up big time.

--oh yeah there's some new korean markets in garden grove as well. just off beach, there's the garden market (open now for several months) that's not so popular since i think it's trying for the upscale, health conscious consumer (organic stuff, wine section, etc) and also they had some problems with the scanners that never ended up in our favor. right next to it is that home shopping network place that has all the stuff that you see hawked on korean tv.

[mke2lax]

God, I hated that Albertson's with a passion! I'll be checking out this new place on the weekend. Another poster reported there were ready-marinated meats available..sounds good for quick dinners.

[Chandavkl]

See follow up post from a couple of days ago. They've also got grand opening drawings for stuff like big screen TVs.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/370830

[yellowfoodie]

yeah, i went by twice already. it's not complete yet, but nice so far. i love it.. it's clean and it's easy to find stuff you're looking for. one of the perks is the food court. all of the restaurants aren't open yet, but the ones that are.. pretty good. one even has dukbokgi.

[broncosaurus]

Any good grand opening deals on offer?

[lilikoigirl]

I just noticed this place today (on my way back from the Farmer's Market). I thought about stopping in, but the parking lot looked crazy (they were offering free valet parking because it was full) so I'm thinking I'll go sometime next week during the day.