The stores and restaurants at Asian Corner Mall in northeast Charlotte were a gathering place for the region’s Asian community for years. Now, half of the mall is closed after a developer bought it a few months ago.
Since that community’s anchor has broken up, some of its businesses are adapting to serve new clientele and rebuild.
Blending tastes and frying fish
Nana’s Seafood Mart on West Sugar Creek has a new addition — a green sign out front that reads “pho” — the Vietnamese noodle soup. Inside, Stephanie Dinh deep-frys croaker filets while her grandmother packs bags.
“Before we didn't have seafood. She just had the Vietnamese pho soup. But now it’s like she's combining two into one,” said Dinh.
Nana’s is only a mile up the road from her old restaurant, Truc, which was at the mall. Her grandmother, Xuan Le, bought the business and property from another Vietnamese family once she heard half of Asian Corner Mall was closing. Some of their old diners still come, but their customers now are largely African American. Most haven’t tried pho before.
“They're coming to buy fish and you bring a bowl out. And they're like, ‘What's that?’” said Dinh.
Her grandmother gives them a good price. They try pho, and, Dinh says, they like it.
Nana’s is a big adjustment. Le misses her old customers — with many of whom she could speak Vietnamese. Now language is often a barrier. But they’re hopeful.
“I just feel like a little more time it’s going to be something. Because right now it's been hard because with the whole fish, the small kitchen — it's a process,” said Dinh.Nails and bánh mi in Pineville
Wholesale supply store Maxim Nail Mall has found a new spot at Centrum, a shopping center in Pineville across from Carolina Place Mall. Polish and gels pack the shelves.
It took the store’s owner Michael Pham about a year to find the location. Many of his previous customers still visit. Kim Cu, who has a nail salon in Mount Holly and lives in Rock Hill, prefers this location over Asian Corner Mall.
“The old place is kind of going downhill. They're not fixing up anything,” said Cu. “I like this area better. And also, I can go to an Asian grocery store next to it, so it's more convenient for me.”
That’s the Super G Mart next door that carries food from countries around the world, which opened in December. Lula Bánh Mi — selling Vietnamese sandwiches — also just opened. And Yiding Hot Pot will open soon, too, near the Home Depot and David’s Bridal.Two hairdressers unite in east Charlotte to serve a diverse set of customers
At a strip mall in east Charlotte, two former Asian Corner Mall tenants are adding to what’s becoming a cluster of Asian-owned stores.
Thuy Nguyen opened Thuy’s Hair Design at the strip mall a year ago, shortly after she received notice half of Asian Corner Mall was closing. Next door is DTD, a travel agency specializing in trips from Vietnam. It also relocated from Asian Corner.
Nguyen says there, all her customers were Vietnamese. Here, she says, her salon has customers of every color.
“The black, the yellow, the white,” said Nguyen.
She thought about relocating to Central Avenue or Matthews where there are more Vietnamese-run businesses. But she saw a supermarket, called Asian Market, had recently opened at The Plaza and Eastway, where Nubiance Hair Salon, owned by Rochelle Strickland, was up for sale.
Nguyen calls Strickland her teacher.
“Yes, I'm her teacher,” laughed Strickland.
Strickland still wanted to do hair, but after 40 years she didn’t want the pressure of owning her own business anymore. Nguyen buying the salon, she says, was “a blessing in disguise.”
“I was actually going to sell it and move on. But she asked me to stay and rent a booth. So I said, ‘OK, I'll stay.’ And it’s worked well for me,” said Strickland.
For Nguyen, it meant she didn’t have to pay to outfit a new space with sinks and blow dryers. She’d be only five minutes from Asian Corner Mall, so her customers could easily follow. She hoped customers going to Asian Market would find her, too. Her son, who also works with her, speaks English fluently. But having Strickland stay was a big bonus.
She says Strickland is both really nice and can answer practical questions — such as who fixes the air conditioner.
“Everything I ask Rochelle,” said Nguyen.
“What she means is she loves me,” Strickland replied.
Strickland grew up in east Charlotte. She remembers when the mall used to be a golf course — and the area was much less diverse. She ran her salon here for 19 years, serving many African Americans like herself, but she also has Latino, Asian and white customers.
When she thinks about her first impression of Nguyen, she laughs heartily and describes her at that time as understandably “a little bit pushy” and “very anxious.”
But Strickland says they got past it.
Nguyen moved to the U.S. from Vietnam nine years ago when she was in her forties. She operated her salon in Asian Corner Mall for about five years, taking English several nights a week at Central Piedmont Community College. She became a U.S. citizen last year.
The two have grown to understand and enjoy each other.
“I like the Vietnamese music sometimes that she puts on,” said Strickland.
But other times, she says, Nguyen tries to accommodate her customers and put on music she thinks Black people enjoy. But the music often misses its mark.
At times, Strickland has to smooth over interactions when Nguyen tells customers she only knows how to cut Asian hair. But business is going well. Nguyen has even started taking one day off a week now.
“I have the house. I have the job. I have English. I have everything,” said Nguyen.
And then she points at Strickland and says she has her first American friend.
“We’re in this together,” said Strickland.
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