The story
Background
1979-1997: Yaohan USA
Under President Kazuo Wada's international expansion plans, Yaohan established subsidiary Yaohan USA by opening its first location in Fresno in 1979. Yaohan continued opening stores throughout California, such as Torrance and Costa Mesa.
In September 1988, Yaohan opened its first East Coast location in Edgewater, New Jersey. In September 1991, Yaohan expanded to Arlington Heights, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It opened as the largest Japanese supermarket in the American Midwest. Both locations planned on constructing hotels with a Japanese communal tub on the rooftop. The purpose of the projects was drawing in local communities from around the areas. However, for reasons unknown, the projects never came to fruition. In 1992, the Torrance store relocated to a larger space in the city's eastern edge to account for increased popularity amongst Japanese-Americans.
History
1997-2012: Wanoba Group Inc. acquisition and rebrand
In September 1997, Yaohan declared bankruptcy, citing the 1997 Asian financial crisis, stagnation of the Japanese retail market, and company debt of ¥171 billion, or $1.42 billion. In March 1998, Yaohan USA executives branched off to form a new company called Wanoba Group, Inc. and acquired the American locations. They used the assets to form a new subsidiary called Mitsuwa Corporation and rebranded the supermarkets as Mitsuwa Marketplace.
Throughout the 2000s, Mitsuwa continued operations. On January 25, 2009, the Los Angeles location in the Little Tokyo neighborhood closed due to Korean investors purchasing the property for $35 million. On December 17, 2011, Mitsuwa opened a new location in Irvine, California, their second supermarket in Orange County.
2012-present: Kamei acquisition, U.S. expansion, and renovation
On December 21, 2012, the Kamei Corporation, a Japanese trading company, acquired Wanoba Group Inc. for $27.8 million with plans of retaining their management team and keeping business intact.
In 2017, Mitsuwa expanded to two U.S. states outside of California. On April 14, 2017, they entered the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex with a store in Plano, Texas, the biggest city in Collin County. It was chosen for their large Asian population and the recently relocated headquarters of Toyota Motor North America from Torrance, California. On May 15, 2017, Mitsuwa opened a new location in Waikīkī, Hawaii, at the International Market Place.
In 2019, Mitsuwa completed a major infrastructure renovation of the Chicago location with improved lighting, wider aisles, new walls, new flooring, and new restaurants to their food court. The company also announced it was relocating their Torrance location from Western Avenue to the Del Amo Fashion Center, debuting on February 12, 2020, with a modern, sleek look. The former building was demolished in 2023 for a new project.
On January 21, 2023, Mitsuwa opened a new supermarket in Northridge, California, near California State University, Northridge. It is one of only two stores in California that does not host a food court, the other being in San Gabriel. On August 22, 2023, Mitsuwa renovated Waikīkī's food court into a food hall called The Japan with six new vendors. On November 1, 2025, Mitsuwa opened a new location in Cypress, California, their third supermarket in Orange County.
From Wikipedia’s article on Mitsuwa Marketplace, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4