International supermarket caters to influencer crowd as it opens first California location

An international supermarket store finally opened its doors in the Bay Area amid a flurry of social media fanfare from influencers who were the first ones to score an exclusive look inside the first California location.

The Canadian-based T&T Supermarket officially debuted on Thursday in San Jose with a grand opening of its Asian-themed grocery store at the Westgate Center, located at 1600 Saratoga Ave.

However, the first people inside the 55,000 sq. foot store weren’t customers but content creators who got a sneak peek on Wednesday.

Influencers hit the specialty market — armed with their lights and phones — to film some of its unique products with close up shots on popular Chinese street foods, Taiwanese style sticky rice rolls, and more.

Videos on TikTok showed them inside the market promoting items the food chain is known for like huge sushi plates for $30, dim sum, bao, traditional sticky rice and viral mango egg tarts.

Others were filmed dancing through the aisles of the new supermarket or visiting the counter of the enticing Chinese crepe station.

“All the food here feels like it’s picked by locals,” content creator and product manager Yuming Lu told the SF Chronicle.

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“It’s very authentic and legit.” 

Customers then showed up by the hundreds on Thursday with more videos surfacing online showing people lined up outside the store waiting to get inside to get their hands on products the store is known for like ready-to-eat meals, Asian beauty products, fresh produce, and baked goods.

The store features thousands of products across Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Southeast Asian and other Asian cuisines, according to the company.

Shoppers can also expect to find some of the market’s private-label products like pork soup dumplings, green onion pancakes, kalbi sauces and Taiwanese-style sausage, per the company.

“San Jose is a long-anticipated store,” Tina Lee, the company’s CEO, said in a statement.

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“We’re bringing more than just exciting, high-quality foods. We’re exporting a new way of life from Canada: one that’s deeply food-centric, celebratory, rich in tradition and fresh-obsessed.”

The grand opening is the first of several locations in the Bay Area with one opening in San Francisco and Newark later this year and a third in Millbrae next year.

T&T was founded in Vancouver in 1993 and headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, with offices in Toronto and Los Angeles.

The company operates more than 39 stores across Canada and the United States — including its first US store in Bellevue, Washington, that opened in 2024.