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Marady and Thai Poeuk have... (Edward Damon / Berkshire Eagle Staff / photos.berkshireeagle.com)
WILLIAMSTOWN -- A new business in the Colonial Shopping Plaza aims to provide Northern Berkshire residents with hard-to-find Asian and international food.
Asian Mini Market opened on June 1 and is owned and operated by husband and wife Marady and Thai Poeuk.
"I always had a hard time finding some products," Marady Poeuk said. "I wanted to share these products with people so they don’t have to drive far anymore."
Thai Poeuk said his family would regularly drive 50 or 60 miles to an Asian grocery store, the nearest ones being in upstate New York and Northampton areas.
Both are natives of Cambodia, he said. He has been in the country for nearly 30 years, having first came with his parents from a refugee camp.
The couple has been married for close to six years and currently reside in North Adams. They previously operated a restaurant in Chicopee, Thai said.
The store is stocked with food items from all across globe -- Marady lists countries which include Thailand, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan and Korea.
The shelves are lined with numerous types of noodles and rice, specialty sauces and snacks.
A freezer in the back of the store is filled with frozen dumplings, spring rolls and other easy meals, while a refrigerator holds Asian beverages.
Some hard-to-find items in stock include frozen banana leaves and palm sugar, Thai said.
For right now, it’s a learning process to find what locals want to see in stock, Marady said. The couple has also found some items -- like 25 pound bags of high-quality jasmine rice -- haven’t been moving. But various noodles and snacks are very popular, they said.
Thai said the store has seen much business from college students and professors. Some locals are unsure of how to prepare some food the store stocks, he said, but the couple is excited to suggest recipes and preparation techniques. Both also suggested shoppers turn to YouTube and other web resources.
The store will be open every day with various hours, Thai said.
"In the future, we would like to expand," he said. "We would like to have more fresh produce and more exotic items. And in addition to that, having a restaurant, we’re going to see how this does before we expand next door."