Description

Entering from Broad Street, customers enter through the doors of 314 and are introduced to a Buddhist's shrine with bowls of rice, fruits, and burning incense. To the left, a variety of sweets and fresh green products, to the right, pile after pile of fresh seafood in ice. Looking straight, five never-ending horizontal rows of can goods, dry goods, fresh tofu, and everything necessary to make an authentic Southeast Asian dish. Six square wooden columns stand in the middle of the store where the store was once divided into two. Entrance to the upside residential space is accessed through either the back door or through a side door. From outside, the building looks modern with new sliding and wash and a French classical roof, however with very distinctive Southeast Asian musts: calling card advertisements, photographs of Asia, and most importantly, current trends. To an outsider, the store looks like any other grocery market, however to members of the community; the store is more.