After more than seven decades in business, Yamashita Market—Santa Cruz County’s only store dedicated to Asian cooking supplies—is set to close its doors for good, likely sometime in July.
The store’s owner Goro Yamashita says that business was steadily declining even before Covid-19 forced businesses to restrict services and customers to stay home and, in many cases, shop online. Many others, he adds, are making the drive to San Jose for their supplies.
“It’s sad,” Yamashita said. “I’ve been here since 1976, but you hardly see any new faces now.”
Yamashita said his parents opened the market in 1928. It moved to its current location in 1948, he said, as the family struggled to rebuild after facing imprisonment during World War II. Yamashita says he grew up helping his parents run the place.
The store for years has been a mainstay for South County’s thriving Japanese community, and the only store locally to offer reasonably-priced, specialty Asian food products such as freshly-made tofu, mochi, noodles and hard-to-find styles of rice.
Mary Kohama, 68, of Watsonville made a stop at the market recently, and left with a box full of items. She says she’s been coming to the market since she was 5.
“I like the supplies, the food, this is the only place you can get these things,” she said.
More than that, however, Kohama says she liked seeing the Yamashita family that runs the little store at 114 Union St., who she called “kind and respectful.”
“They are just great people,” she said.
I’m so disappointed that it took someone telling me that you’ll be closing your store, for me to find out about your wonderful-sounding market. I’ll be in very soon….hopefully this weekend. I wish you all the best.
I walked by that store for 30 years. I think I’ve been in there a couple times. I need to go in there again before you close. Thank you for servicing our community and good luck.
I also hadn’t heard of this market but I would have been a customer if I had. I suspect there was an untapped customer base in N County that would have flocked there. I’m still hoping an Indian grocer will come to SC County. I bought fresh tofu in San Jose because I didn’t know.
I can remember going to the store at the age of five. I am now 59. We grew up there as well buying different varieties of candies as a kid growing up in Watsonville this is always a trademark. It saddens me to know that landmark will not be closed.