T&T Supermarket Enters Southern California Dec. 10 in Chino Hills

T&T Supermarket will open its first Southern California store on Dec. 10 at Crossroads Marketplace in Chino Hills, a 61,000-square-foot location the company calls its largest in California to date. That's a serious footprint — roughly 1.4 acres of retail — and it lands directly in the country's densest Asian-grocery market.

The grand opening ceremony starts at 8 a.m., with doors opening at 9 a.m. and giveaways and live performances to follow. The store sits at 13021 Peyton Drive. T&T did not disclose sales projections or target demographics, which is standard for an opening announcement but worth noting for anyone sizing up the competitive stakes.

What's inside the store?

The merchandising mix leans hard on fresh and prepared categories:

• An extensive Asian grocery assortment, fresh produce, premium meats and live seafood
• Korean and Japanese beauty products
• More than 300 T&T private-label products — a number that signals how much margin the chain expects to run on its own brands

The in-house T&T Kitchen serves made-to-order street food: Taiwanese-style rice rolls, the Baby Bear Bao (a bear-shaped steamed bun filled with braised pork), a BBQ station with carved-to-order meats, a hot food bar and a sushi counter. The chain's Crispy Papa Chicken has gone viral on social media, per the company — viral is a claim T&T makes about its own product, so treat the reach accordingly.

The T&T Bakery adds more than 300 specialty breads, pastries and desserts, including Portuguese egg tarts and Bolo Butter Buns, plus Christmas-themed cakes and holiday party trays. Foodservice this deep positions the store as a destination, not just a weekly grocery run.

How big is the California push?

Chino Hills is not a one-off. T&T has future stores underway at Irvine's Great Park and additional Bay Area locations in Millbrae and Newark. The Taiwanese-Canadian grocer described customer response to its recent Bay Area openings as "wildly successful." No sales figures back that phrase — again, the company's word is the only evidence on the table.

The Chino Hills store is hiring now, with walk-in interviews weekdays from 2 to 5 p.m. at 13089 Peyton Drive, Unit A.

Founded in Vancouver in 1993 and headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, T&T operates more than 40 stores across Canada and the U.S. under second-generation CEO Tina Lee. A chain that size entering Southern California is a deliberate escalation, not a test.

Who's already there?

Southern California is home turf for 99 Ranch Market, the largest Asian supermarket chain in the U.S. 99 Ranch broke ground this summer on a redevelopment anchoring its San Gabriel hometown. T&T is walking into a market where the incumbent is investing in its own backyard at the same moment.

T&T's differentiation rests on prepared foods, private label and an experiential store format — claims shoppers will judge starting Dec. 10. If the Irvine and Bay Area pipeline holds, Southern California's Asian-grocery competition gets measurably tighter within a year.