Seoul Foods plans to relocate to Bridge Plaza after rapid growth

NORTH MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Seoul Foods is preparing to move to a new location at Bridge Plaza after what’s been more than a year since its opening on Belgrade Avenue. The owner says the new location will give the grocery store more room to grow.

Sook Nam, the owner of Seoul Foods, says the new building will have double the space with around 2,400 to 2,700 square feet, giving the store room for a deli and more space to stock with a variety of ethnic groceries.

Nam says the store has not just survived over the past year, but thrived, despite an increase in construction on Belgrade Ave and an increase in expenses it had due to increasing tariffs on foreign imports.

The store credits that success with its ability to adapt to stock a wider variety of ethnic foods that customers wanted, including not just Korean food, but other Asian groceries from countries like Thailand or Laos.

In south central Minnesota, Nam says it has made Seoul Foods a destination for families that have a need for specific regional foods, but the rate at which the business has grown has been surprising.

“I didn’t really foresee it taking off as well as it did. There is a lot of demand; people [and] families, they do come. They do want to be able to shop for their needs instead of traveling, because it is an inconvenience to drive to the cities and drive back, when you’re just looking for groceries,” Nam said.

The store’s landlord and owner of Brennan Properties Mike Brennan has been helping with the relocation.

Brennan says he was thrilled to see the store succeeding so fast at the Belgrade building, and when he saw that it had a need for more space, he thought it would be a perfect fit for another property he owned at Bridge Plaza.

“They’ve been a tenant in the Belgrade building on Belgrade Avenue for less than two years, and they’ve already outgrown that space,” Brennan said.

The store hopes to fully relocate to the new location by around June.

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