Mitsuwa Marketplace Opening Could Signal Early Wave Of Toyota Effect
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PLANO (CBS11) - When corporations like Toyota and others announced relocations to North Texas, it was just the beginning of businesses that would follow them here.
Plano got a taste of that Friday when hundreds of people lined up for the grand opening of the Mitsuwa Marketplace.
There are other Asian markets near Legacy and US-75, but about 80 percent of what's sold at Mitsuwa is Japanese.
The company is betting that appeals not only to the customers already in North Texas but the ones who are on their way.
Traditional drums welcomed the hundreds who lined up outside Mitsuwa Marketplace waiting for its grand opening.
"People are pretty excited because I came here at 10:30, and it's already... the parking lot was already full," Francesca Liu said waiting for the store to open.
The line stretched around the corner. Once doors opened customers packed inside looking for a taste of authenticity.
Store manager Takanori Asada said now that Toyota has relocated its headquarters from Southern California, the grocery chain headquartered there is branching out to make transplants feel at home in Plano.
"So Toyota's coming in Plano. That's why Mitsuwa's also coming here," Junji Kurokawa said.
Kurokawa's Japan External Trade Organization helps encourage U.S.-Japanese commerce.
He said following in Toyota's path are suppliers, lawyers, accountants and grocery and retail stores that also create a business infrastructure and a quality of life that will draw more corporations to the area. At the same time, customers like Abraham Carbajal said the people already here enjoy the new choices.
"It opens up a bunch of new stores and shops and creates more jobs when a bigger company moves in," Carbajal said.
With more then 25,000 square feet, what customers saw Friday was only part of the experience.
The market will also be opening its own Japanese food hall in part of the space in the weeks ahead.