Super H super welcome in Naperville

If opening day was any indication of how well Super H Mart will do in Naperville, the international grocer will be around for a very long time.

The store, which has a large Asian customer base, opened Friday at Ogden Avenue and Naper Boulevard.

"It's going good," said Jimmy Kim, H Mart's deputy manager for marketing. "There are a lot of customers."

That was an understatement. Cars packed the parking lot, with store employees directing traffic.

Inside, customers waited in lines that snaked down the aisles, nearly reaching the back of the store.

Everywhere, people were poring over items and sampling free food.

The 40,000-square-foot site used to house a Dominick's, which closed in May.

Store officials chose Naperville partly because it has a large and welcoming Asian population, Kim said.

But Super H Mart isn't just an Asian grocer; it also serves a variety of international foods, he said. Customers could choose among Korean, Chinese and Japanese products, as well as Western and Hispanic items.

Roughly 70 percent of the Super H Mart floor is dedicated to fresh produce and seafood, managers said.

The Naperville store is the chain's second in the Chicago suburbs. It has about 100 employees and will be open every day.

"For the Asian community, this is wonderful," customer Gayle McNeal said.

The Naperville woman said she was taking advantage of the store's many samplings, which included green tea, noodles, seafood and dumplings.

Her friend, Kee McKinney, also gave the store a positive review.

"But I'll have to come back when it's not so crowded," she said. "It's kind of … a madhouse."

Ping Yuan of Naperville also plans to return -- probably about once a week. She gave the store a thumbs-up for its fresh food and cheaper prices.

Yuan was one of the customers waiting at the very end of a long line. Not that she minded.

"Because it's the first day, I understand," she said.