My brother dragged me out
because it's the last day that
Viet Wah is open,
It's a very iconic location.
When I first came to America,
we lived like right next door.
This is where I shop.
Where do I? Where am I going to...?
I'm not going to ride to... Renton? Sah-wah?
Everything is closing!
Viet Wah!
I learned about our culture
through food.
This was frequent,
traditional visit with my grandma.
I used to go here
with my grandparents, my parents.
My grandpa
we would always go here shop every Saturday.
We made it
A full day, so we came
and got lunch here.
We went grocery shopping.
He would always buy
lottery tickets
and he would always want to win big.
Oh... snack section for sure.
I would go crazy every time.
But grandma had specific preferences
and like really specific ingredients
that you only find in grocery stores
like this.
Eventually everybody need to eat.
So I think, well, food business
is a good one to start.
In the eighties, difficult to buy
Vietnamese food.
When I drove by and I see this one,
so I come in and ask them if we can lease
the space.
He said, you want to rent this space?
You have to show me
you have
one million dollars in assests before I talk to you!
Well, I don't have that.
I think a couple of years later,
they come to me
and say, you're still interested?
Yeah, but I don't have one million.
They said, no you don’t need it.
You want it, you can have it.
That’s how we started in 1988.
That's where we start, you know.
And then we're growing very fast
and we're so busy.
I'm in every day,
and make sure the door is open.
Everyday thing, you know, in the morning
sometimes is overslept.
Oh, you know?
We started the business
when everyone from Southeast
Asia was new to this country
in this area.
So in a way that,
you know, the community
and the store have grown together
and we've established ourselves together.
We've been planning for this
for several years,
like we knew it was coming.
And so on some level
we've like mentally prepared for it.
But now that it's actually here,
it is hard to be like, Oh, today
really is the last day!
I’ll see you soon.
- We’ll see you soon.
Seeing customers say bye to our staff.
That's been really...
Oh! see?
My customer, my coworker,
everybody just like family team work
very good.
And then now we have to...
Miss seeing people and
I like social...
and missing
seeing all those customer and friend.
I think my fondest memories
have been in grocery stores.
We can't just say, oh,
we'll find another store
to replace them eventually,
You can't really replace businesses
that have built relationships
and community like this.
Let's say bye.
Yeah. Thank you for supporting us. Yeah.
It's been really touching
to know that our business
has affected people in this way
because you think of a grocery store,
it's like it's just food.
But food is so important to our lives.
To be a place
where people can go and feel at home
and feel like they belong here,
and to see things that they're familiar
with and remind them of home
or remind them of their past
or their culture or their family.
It's really powerful, I think.
Ok... seven.
Is it time? Yeah, it’s time now..
I don't think this is ever going to exist
in the same way in this neighborhood again.
(gate sliding shut)
After 40 years
that's been a pretty good run.
But also feel ready to to move on now.