Seven new Asian businesses, including the first Illinois location for the national supermarket chain 99 Ranch Market, will be opening their doors at Naperville’s Riverbrook Shopping Center.
“We’re aiming for summer,” said Heather Nguyen, development partner at NewQuest Asia-Pacific. “It’s probably going to be the third quarter before a lot of these tenants will open but definitely in 2026.”
Beyond 99 Ranch Market, businesses confirmed so far are Teso Life, Fat Miilk Coffee, Ban Le Sandwiches, Gen Korean BBQ, Kitakata Ramen and Tokyo Shokudo.
They are part of a larger redevelopment of Riverbrook Shopping Center at North Aurora Road and Raymond Drive by the Houston-based real estate company NewQuest. Much of NewQuest’s portfolio, which is valued at $2.3 billion and features more than a hundred projects, includes massive shopping centers anchored by major American retailers like Target and Krogers.
In 2013, Nguyen said she formed an Asia-Pacific division focused on bringing Asian concepts and companies to major shopping centers, providing those businesses with “a platform for them to grow into and go mainstream,” whether it be companies from abroad or U.S.-based companies that focus on Asian culture and products.
“We wanted to make it more accessible and easy to appreciate, if you will,” Nguyen said. “And many people who are interested in different Asian cuisines can have it here and not have to travel all the way to Asia.”
That’s exactly what NewQuest plans to do for the Riverbrook, which about a decade ago had been anchored by a now-closed Dominick’s grocery store.
“We look for areas that have growth, a lot of young families moving in, and usually the indicator for that is going to be where the best schools are,” Nguyen said. “And so I’ve read a lot about the articles about Naperville schools and the community being the top place to live in America.”
Nguyen ventured out to Naperville one weekend in 2021 to learn more about the city. When she spotted Riverbrook Shopping Center, she was struck by the number of vacant stores.
“And I just called … the original developer and owner at the time and asked him like, ‘Everything else is pretty full around you. Why is your shopping center vacant?’” Nguyen said. “And he had explained to me that his partner had passed and that they were just ready to sell. So I stepped in and worked on our group to buy it.”
At the time of its purchase, about 35% of the 140,892-square-foot strip mall was leased.
While seven businesses have been confirmed, Nguyen said she aims to bring in more than 20, including a mix of restaurants, retailers and entertainment.
“We went through a full renovation of the center to upgrade electrical to handle the load of restaurants that we want to bring in,” said Nguyen said, noting that the facade of the center was improved as well.
The new 40,000-square-foot 99 Ranch Market will be one of the development’s anchors. Founded in 1984 in Southern California, the company was created by Taiwanese immigrant Roger Chen, who noticed a cultural gap between the food he wanted to recreate from his home country and the food available to him at typical American supermarket chains, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.
Thanks in part to a large Asian population in California, 99 Ranch Market quickly took off and has now grown to be one of the largest retailers for Asian groceries in the country, with dozens of locations across the U.S. This past year, 99 Ranch Market opened its first locations in Portland, Oregon, and New York City, according to company news releases.
“It’s very similar as to what H Mart will carry, but there are differences because H Mart is a Korean grocery store and this is more of a Taiwanese-Chinese grocery store,” Nguyen said. “But they both have really blended to carry and merchandise for really everyone.”
One specialty section that shoppers can look forward to is 99 Ranch Market’s hot deli section, which includes dim sum and BBQ Chinese meats like roast duck and pork.
“Those are things that I think will be fun to have because as I’ve gone through I haven’t really found a place that has that yet in Naperville. I think there’s one other grocery store that maybe has it, but it’s not something that H Mart carries,” Nguyen said.
Asian goods department store Teso Life will also help anchor the plaza. Originally established in New York, Naperville will be the store’s second location in Illinois, Niles being the first.
“So that store is really fun. You’ll find things you never knew you needed, and they sell all kinds of things that are trending on TikTok, like all the skin care products, all the snacks from Japan, the latest ice cream craze that is coming on TikTok,” Nguyen said. “They really kind of lean into the trends and offer that all in one store, so it’s really fun for the entire family to shop.”
NewQuest is also bringing some local Asian Chicago businesses to town as well: Ba Le Sandwiches and Fat Miilk Coffee.
The former is a popular Vietnamese sandwich shop known for their banh mi sandwiches filled with everything from cured pork belly and pate to shredded chicken on a crunchy French bread. The latter specializes in authentic Vietnamese coffee. Lan Ho, owner of Fat Miilk, opened her first storefront in Chicago in 2024, but started her business with Fat Miilk during the pandemic after getting fired from her job.
“I know she’s got quite the following of customers from Naperville that drive into Chicago for her Vietnamese coffee,” Nguyen said. “And if you watched ‘Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars,’ she was one of the finalists and so I’m excited to see her grow and open a location out here.”
National chain Gen Korean BBQ will provide Naperville residents with a lively, interactive grill-at-your-table experience. Tokyo Shokudo and Kitakata Ramen will give Naperville residents with two different options for Japanese food.
Tokyo Shokudo will offer a variety of dishes inspired by casual Japanese neighborhood eateries, with everything from sushi to udon noodles. Kitakata Ramen will specialize in hearty bowls of Kitakata-style ramen, one of the three main styles of ramen in Japan.
There are a number of restaurants NewQuest is in talks with for other possible tenants but Nguyen declined to name them because of ongoing negotiations.
“To me, restaurants have become the new kind of the next entertainment,” Nguyen said. “A lot of people like to do the gatherings around the table, and we are focused on bringing a great variety of restaurants to serve this community and be an attraction for a place where families can gather and celebrate any occasion.”
cstein@chicagotribune.com