The Cupertino Courier

News

Asian store to replace long time Longs Drugs by June 30

By Cody Kraatz

Marukai Corp. will open its first supermarket in Northern California in January, taking the place of a Longs Drugs that has been at 19750 Stevens Creek Blvd. since 1978. Longs will close by the time its lease ends on June 30.

"We've been looking for a lot of places, and that's the one because of the major Asian traffic in the future," said Kenny Enomoto, marketing and facility manager for Marukai.

The store will be 28,690 square feet, according to Tenny Tsai, a partner with NAI BT Commercial real estate brokers who represented Marukai.

Based in Gardena, the company sells Japanese and Hawaiian foods, Asian furniture, appliances, meat, Asian produce and a wide selection of fish. Most of its stores are in Hawaii and Southern California. It usually requires a membership to shop and has more than 70,000 members, according to its website.

There are a number of other Asian markets in Cupertino.

"I'm not too worried. Our produce is pretty strong here," said Wayne Imahara, owner of Imahara Produce and Oriental Foods across the street.

Evershine Property Management, which manages the shopping center, did not respond to phone calls.

"We would love to find another location in Cupertino," said Longs spokeswoman Phyllis Proffer.

Longs pharmacy customers will have their information transferred to the store at 10455 S. De Anza Blvd., about one mile away. If customers have any questions, they can contact the Stevens Creek Boulevard Longs at 408.255.7622 or the pharmacy at 408.255.4780 for more information.