T&T Supermarkets, the largest chain of Asian grocery stores in Canada, plans to expand into the United States with a flagship store in Bellevue, Washington, slated to open next summer.

The company, with headquarters in Richmond, British Columbia, plans to open a 76,000-square-foot store previously occupied by Walmart at Kimco Realty's The Marketplace at Factoria retail center. The store is expected to employ more than 300 workers, according to the statement.

The move highlights the growth of ethnic specialty grocers across the United States over the past decade. Asian and Hispanic chains such as Uwajimaya and Cardenas have been expanding their footprints by opening stores to sell fresh foods familiar to customers while attracting consumers well beyond those demographics.

T&T also plans to open a regional office in greater Los Angeles, raising the prospect of more stores opening in the United States. The chain has already posted openings for such office positions as buyers and category managers in the L.A. area on Indeed.com.

While the chain won't discuss plans for further growth in the United States, the Bellevue announcement “leaves the door open to more” locations, T&T Supermarket CEO Tina Lee told The Globe & Mail in Toronto.

T&T needs to build a network of suppliers and vendors in the United States, and the office in L.A. gives the grocer access to the nation’s two largest ports that are a hub for the Asian food trade, Lee told The Globe.

"We know the love for T&T transcends borders," Lee said in the company's statement. "It's not unusual to see U.S. license plates in the parking lots of our British Columbia stores, with hundreds of customers regularly making the drive for our food."

The grocery store also brings an iconic Canadian brand to the Marketplace at Factoria, which already has a broad range of U.S. retail and restaurant tenants, Carmen Decker, president of Kimco Realty's Western region, said in the statement.

In Seattle's Puget Sound region, T&T will compete with such established Asian grocery chains as 99 Ranch Market, Mekong Asian Market and H Mart, CoStar data shows.

T&T would ranked as the largest Asian grocery store in Washington, according to Kidder Mathews Senior Vice President John Booth, who represented T&T in securing the property.

“In recent years there has been an increased demand for more diverse grocery options, and that interest is growing exponentially," Booth said in an emailed statement.

The expansion of ethnic food stores mirrors demographic shifts across the United States and Canada in recent decades.

Cindy Lee, an immigrant from Taiwan and a working mother of three, founded T&T in British Columbia in 1993. She named the store for her daughters Tina and Tiffany, as well as the initials of two early investors, according to the company's website.

Loblaw Companies Ltd., Canada's largest food and drug retailer, bought the chain in 2009, when it was operating 17 stores. T&T has since nearly doubled its number of stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.

Loblaw, controlled by Canada's prominent Weston family, controls nearly 30% of food sales in the country through various brands, according to Statistica. The company has fended off such American chains as Walmart and Costco, which each control less than 10% of the market.

The company's origins back to George Weston, who founded George Weston Limited in 1882. His great-grandson Galen Weston Jr. is now chairman and chief executive of the George Weston, with the family estimated to be worth about US$9 billion.

Through George Weston Ltd., the family controls Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Choice Properties, which is the largest real estate investment trust in the country.