April 2, 2010
Greensboro, NC.—Despite tough times, Y'Nen Nie is opening a brand new business in a few days, Nie's American Oriental Market, on 3116 Summit Avenue on the corner of McKight Mill Road. The 5,000 square foot building will be the biggest Asian specialty store in the city's northeast area (District 2) and a welcome change to the busy but struggling commercial corridor dotted with closed storefronts.
Its location will make it easier for knowledgeable shoppers on this side of town looking for chili garlic sauce, rice paper wrappers, dried shitake mushrooms, and elephant brand rice, indispensable ingredients food lovers and budding cooks have come to appreciate through cable TV shows like "Iron Chef" and "Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations". Nie's new store features a large parking lot, high ceilings, bright lighting and an American supermarket-style experience that welcomes the area's non-Asian shoppers who can feel intimidated when they explore Greensboro's unfamiliar neighborhoods and ethnic stores. He is excited about selling seafoods such as imported yellow catfish, silver barb and mudfish that are important to Asian cuisine. He'll also carry a line of prepared foods — terrific lunchtime plates perfect for carry-out — such as banh bao (steamed meat bun), banh mi (a sub-like sandwich), spring rolls and other tasty dishes similar to Chinese dim sum, but strictly traditional Southeast Asian.
In fact, ethnic stores are often the bright spots in the city's commercial strips, among the few businesses that manage to do well in these hard times because of their owners' willingness to understand and meet the needs of both old time neighborhood residents and the region's growing immigrant and refugee populations. Ethnic entrepreneurs face choosy shoppers. Price and quality matter a lot to Nie's customers, many of them Montagnards from the Central Highlands but which also include other Asian ethnic groups, Hispanic and African-American neighbors.
Nie and his family came to Greensboro as refugees in 1986. He worked long days in Siler City's chicken processing plant, bringing home $60 a week. He pooled his savings with friends and bought a used car, then worked two jobs and attended English class. Eventually he was able to buy a house and then a small store. Across the street from his new market is his old store that he ran for years. He helped his congregation build the Montagnard Central Highland Church on Brame Road. Like many Southeast Asian refugees who have come to the Piedmont, the Nie family were used to adversity and hard times long before they came here. He and other Montagnards continued to fight the Vietnamese as an organized force for more than a decade after the US departed. His wife gave birth to two of their three kids in the jungle after they were forced to flee their home. Only recently did he learn that all five brothers and three nieces had died in the war’s aftermath. In 2004, Nie proudly became a US citizen.
Nie's American Oriental Market, 3116 Summit Avenue, Greensboro NC 27405.
Saturday, April 10, Neighborhood Celebration, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
Church choir, food, and community.
Monday, April 12, open for regular business, 9 AM.
Regular store hours, Monday through Saturday, 9 AM to 11 PM.
Read the news story that appeared in the News-Record.
