History

Established in 1981 by current owner, Van Doan and family, the grocery store has "grown beyond expected," according to Van. Prior to her purchase of one of the two lots, 314 Broad Street, in 1981, two Korean groceries resided on these lots. A refugee from Vietnam, she and her family immigrated to the United States in 1978 seeking asylum in four states: Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire, before permanently relocating in Providence. During the late 1970's and early 1980's, Providence became home to one of the largest waves of refugees from Southeast Asia, primarily Cambodia and Vietnam. Realizing the need for a space to provide these displaced communities with anecdotes from Asia, she ventured into the grocery business hoping to provide that space, where newly arrived refugees could buy and identify products that reflected their lives before the war. The first Southeast Asian grocery to be opened in Rhode Island, amongst the already established East Asian stores, Mekong Market popularly grew to catering both the Southeast Asian communities as well as the Latino and Black communities. Soon the purchase of the neighboring lot, 316 Broad Street, was necessary and the expansion of the current plan began.

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