The new ’minimarket’ sells imported oriental products, as well as everyday items
14ymedio, José Lassa, Havana, 29 January 2025 — Since the beginning of this year, this new shop in Havana has become a meeting point for lovers of Korean culture. K-Mart is the first shop with South Korean products in Cuba, opening amid warming ties between the two nations.
The opening of the private shop, at the intersection of 27th and J streets in El Vedado, coincided with the opening of the South Korean Embassy in Cuba in the middle of this month, almost a year after the two countries re-established diplomatic relations, broken since 1959.
K-Mart offers a varied selection of South Korean products, including ramen, soju, tea, instant coffee, juices and energy drinks. A rarity in Cuba, despite the shop’s tiny space, it has a wide range of foods for sale, crammed on shelves, filling the display cases and piled up on the counter.
The corner where K-Mart stands is in an area that has had several popular private businesses since the 1990s.
The small entrance attracts the locals. The “Open” sign is lit from Monday to Saturday from eight in the morning until six in the evening. K-Mart’s excellent location , close to 23rd Street, the heart of Havana’s Vedado district, is part of an area that since the 1990s has had several very popular private businesses and is just a few metres away from La Colina University.
Prices reflect the country’s inflation, with payments accepted in Cuban pesos, either in cash or by bank transfer. A pack of biscuits sells for around 1,260 pesos, while Miami-imported Bustelo coffee goes for 2,000. Korean staples aren’t far behind—Ramen Shin is priced at 1,400 pesos, and the spicy Buldak variety at 1,500.
On Wednesday, some people just came in to look, at a box of chicken broth for 1,920 pesos or bottles of wine, from 1,200 to 3,500 pesos. I can eat something different that I could never have tried without leaving Cuba,” said one customer as he poured himself a glass of iced tea, in the shop’s small refreshment corner.
Alongside Korean brands, are many imported products from the United States, Mexico and Panama, including one-kilo packets of rice for 450 pesos, sugar for 900 and a knob of mayonnaise for 1,200, which some customers exclaimed at when they worked out that a small purchase in the shop could be well over the average Cuban salary of just over 4,000 pesos a month.
One of the K-Mart shop assistants told 14ymedio that it has been bustling with customers since it opened. Most customers are young people, students from the nearby universities, locals, and people who have heard that a shop like this has opened in Havana. The Torre K hotel, about to open nearby in February, could potentially provide more customers for the shop.
On Wednesday, a young fan of the South Korean music group BTS said “I never thought to find a place like this in Cuba, there are posters of my idols, decorative items from K-dramas and, of course, Korean food that I only dreamed of tasting. You often see K-pop star and Korean series posters on the wall at K-Marts, which have lately been very popular on the island.
Pavel Kim, Professor Kim, who teaches Korean language classes at the Asian Museum, is in charge of serving customers at K-Mart, and preparing the coffee or ramen to consume on the premises. “It’s a good opportunity for Cubans to get to know more about South Korea, not only through food, but also to learn about their lifestyle and traditions,” he said enthusiastically.
The establishment is also supported by the private shop MYOM:I, which specialises in the sale of Korean cosmetics and skin care products, and by the Cuba-Korea Cultural Exchange Association, which helps several local businesses import products from the Asian nation.
With their support, well-stocked shelves, and a carefully designed layout, K-Mart feels like a world apart. Stepping inside, shoppers find no faded portraits of military men—only faces of music idols. It’s a dimension without decay or shortages, where the register rings up hundreds or thousands of pesos in seconds—almost as fast as a good ramen goes down.
Translated by GH
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