Market focus
Hispanic supermarket is first of two planned for city
Hispanic supermarket is first of two planned for city

By Trisha Evans

Published: November 8, 2007

The full-size grocery store and in-store clinic and pharmacy at 415 SW 59 will open Nov. 21. It will be the first of at least two Hispanic grocery stores owner Kun Won "Terry” Yu will open in Oklahoma City.

Yu's company, Terry's Supermarkets, operates nine Hispanic grocery stores and a 100,000-square-foot distribution center in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

He said expanding into Oklahoma City was a practical move because the Hispanic grocery market here is underserved.

"There are many small stores,” Yu said. "Even though there are many Hispanic stores, there's no one that gives Hispanics (all) they need. We furnish what they need and want.”

The store will include some American products but most will be products that include labels in Spanish.

Yu bought the failing Jerry's Supermarket 12 years ago. "I invested by mistake in the supermarket business. I thought it was very easy to operate, but it's very hard to operate,” he said. "The margins are very slim.”

Since then, however, he's learned how to make the stores profitable by serving his customers.

Cash-strapped, Yu could only afford to change one letter in the supermarket's logo. So Jerry's Supermarket became Terry's.

"Then my nickname is Terry. We grew to five and six stores and everybody knew me as Terry,” Yu said.

He has purchased a vacant grocery store at NW 16 and Drexel where he plans to open a second store in April or May.

Store operations director Rick Claus said the stores will focus on meat and produce — two categories very important to the Hispanic customer.

"That's the staple behind their meal,” Claus said. "They're not like typical shoppers. A lot of these women shop five or seven days a week. They come here and they'll buy three pounds of Roma tomatoes, and they'll use them that same day.”

About 40 percent of the store will be devoted to meat and produce, while the frozen food section will be lean.

The store will sell aisles of Hispanic goods, including spices, candies, cookies, sodas, laundry detergents and health and beauty products.

"We'll be competitive and offer people who are not Hispanic great prices on produce and meat,” Claus said.

The store also will sell a variety of products from Central America, Mexico and South America, merchandising director John Miller said.

"Hispanic people buy a lot of their products on brand recognition. They're very loyal customers, and we're trying to give them what they recognize,” he said.

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