EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — The shelves of the Asian Market of East Stroudsburg are filled with items you won't see in your average grocery store.
"I'm glad they have more diverse stores opening because my parents are immigrants, so I can find a lot of the ingredients they use in cooking," said Shanise Nikols of Jim Thorpe.
Nick Nicholas and his wife opened their own Asian market several years ago in Stroudsburg, but they quickly realized they needed more space, so they bought a bigger building on South Courtland Street in East Stroudsburg.
"We own the Thai Orchid Restaurant on 9th Street, and shortly after opening that, we found how difficult it was to purchase Asian products," owner Nick Nicholas said.
He says their new space used to be an A&P store in the 1960s, so it was only right it became a grocery store once again.
"A lot of people ask me how big is the Asian community here and I say it's substantial. But that's only 50 percent of our business. The other 50 percent are people who watch the food channels," Nicholas said.
Shoppers tell Newswatch 16 they're used to having to travel to get specialty items. Now, they don't have to.
"I used to live in Philly, so I'd have to go to H Mart down there to get things. Here, they have a lot of things that they had there at the H Mart in New Jersey and Philly, so I don't have to go two hours. I can go 30 minutes and get the stuff I need," Nikols said.
The market has only been open in its new location for a few days, but Nicholas says lots of new faces are coming through the doors to explore different cultures of cuisine.
"People are coming in, and they're actually discovering a lot of the products they've never seen before, and they're asking and trying new things."