The rise, dominance, and passing of Chinese American supermarkets in northern California, 1930s-1970s

From the 1930s to the 1970s, Chinese American owned grocery stores and supermarkets were dominant competitors in communities throughout Northern California. They were so well established that very few residents did not purchase from them or know about them. Ranging from single-store to multi-store operations, they competed directly with national chain and local independent stores. Nearly all of the supermarkets are no longer in operation or owned by Chinese Americans. A combination of propitious factors brought about their rise and prosperity. Likewise, the materialization of unfavorable conditions overwhelmed the supermarkets, precipitating their decline and insolvency but not before their owners had secured financial security.; Chinese Americans entered into the grocery business by two routes. One was the 1920 fortuitous start of an immigrant in Colusa, California and the other was the invitation to Chinese American by Caucasian grocers to operate meat and produce concessions in their combination markets in the 1930s. Chinese American began expanding their grocery stores into supermarkets in the 1930s. They could not have opened their stores without the support from a grocery wholesaler willing to sell to them. From postwar to the early 1970s, the supermarkets proliferated, taking advantage of the booming population.; The Chinese American operators' greatest edge was their cheap labor, allowing them to sell merchandise at low cost and to reap huge profits. Cheap labor was based on traditional Chinese employment practices in which employees were expected to work long hours. This practice was reinforced by the sense of mutual responsibility and ethnic solidarity among employers and employees.; But formidable challenges emerged. From the mid-1950s onward the increasingly strong labor unions forced labor expense up. During the 1960s the cost of capitalization and operation of modern stores rose sharply. In the 1970s national companies dominated new markets. Partnerships had interpersonal problems, arresting any response to challenges. Furthermore, management was neither capable of managing an increasingly complex operation nor willing to commit the resources to remain competitive. Most owners and partners were ready to retire, but they had a difficult time getting out. Only one company ended their operation while still on the ascension and prosperous.