15 FEBRUARY 5-11, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | What’s in Store THE FOURTH GENERATION OF THE SAME FAMILY IS NOW TAKING OVER PACIFIC MERCANTILE, DENVER’S FIRST ASIAN MARKET. BY GIL ASAKAWA Long before what’s now Great Wall Super- market opened as Pacifi c Ocean Market in 1988, and decades before the fi rst H Mart arrived in 2004, small Asian grocery stores served individual communities, like the Little Saigon area around South Federal and the Koreatown strip of South Havana in Aurora. But the metro’s very fi rst Asian market, Pacifi c Mercantile, catered to the Japanese community. The store opened in downtown Denver in 1945 after the end of World War II, in the heart of what used to be a thriving Ja- pantown along Larimer Street. Now, after decades of change in the community that surrounds it, the founders’ great-grand- daughter is preparing to take ownership of the beloved market. A History Lesson Two Japanese markets appeared in Denver shortly after the end of the war. Granada Fish Market was opened by a former prisoner of the Amache concentration camp in southeast Colorado, who had helped run a fi sh market in the nearby town of Granada that served both the townspeople and the camp’s residents. Pacifi c Mercantile was opened by George Inai, who had been incarcerated with his family at Tule Lake in California and then at Topaz in Utah. He resettled in Denver after the war because of Colorado Governor Ralph Carr, who had opposed the incarceration of Japanese Americans. With Carr’s help, Inai, who had run a grocery in California before the war, opened Pacifi c Mercantile to serve not just the bur- geoning Japanese American population, but also non-Japanese shoppers. Carr advised Inai to sell products that would appeal to all downtown residents, and suggested the name Pacifi c Mercantile instead of Nippon Market to minimize lingering racism aimed at the Japanese. The store thrived and, alongside Granada Fish Market and the Tri-State Denver Bud- dhist Temple, was one of the hubs of the Ja- pantown-like business district that stretched from 19th Street past 30th Street, along Larimer and nearby blocks. When urban renewal aimed to destroy most of Denver’s ethnic enclaves, the Japa- nese American community was able to raise the funds and get the permits to concentrate in the one-block plot of Sakura Square, which hosted not just the church but a high-rise apartment build- ing for Japanese American se- niors called Tamai Towers, as well as shops and restaurants. Pacifi c Mercantile became one of the anchors of Sakura Square. The fi sh market eventually closed, but Pacifi c still serves its community. Now it’s preparing for the next chapter, as the su- permarket moves into its fourth generation of family ownership. Taking the Reins of the Community Legacy From the start, Pacifi c Mer- cantile was more than a store. It was a gathering place for families rebuilding their lives, a pantry of familiar foods brought from home, and a social hub for Japanese Americans and the broader Asian com- munity arriving in Denver in the postwar years. It’s still a must-visit after every Sunday service at the church next door, and a wel- coming stop during every annual Cherry Blossom Festival at Sakura Square, for shave ice, Japanese candies and rice crackers. Pacifi c Mercantile has stood as a quiet touchstone of continuity even as down- town Denver shifted and a new skyline rose around it. Inai’s four children — Naomi, Susie, Sam and Robert Inai — took the helm after his death in 1993, running the store through decades of change. The current owners, Kyle Nagai and Jolie Noguchi, are Susie’s children. That intergenerational stewardship became Pacifi c Mercantile’s signature: a small business that kept culture and community constant. The grandchildren of George Inai run the store today with a surprising mix of tradition and adaptability. Longtime customers drive from all over the state to stock up on Japanese goods like rice, fi sh and other groceries and dry goods. But it’s also a place where locals walk in for sushi and Japanese snacks. And now, as the area around Sakura Square continues to evolve, the family is preparing for another transition: 33-year-old Alyssa Noguchi, Jolie and Alan Noguchi’s daughter (Alan is a constant presence at the store), and the great-granddaughter of the founder, is taking the reins from her mother, Jolie Noguchi, and her uncle, Kyle Nagai. Alyssa represents both continuity and change — steeped in family legacy while bringing a fresh perspective as consumer tastes morph and community identities shift. Alyssa dreamed of being a dancer, and then studied fashion merchandising. “I re- ally wanted to be part of Martha Graham’s company,” she says, but when she went to art school, she became disillusioned with dance as a career. “It just wasn’t what I thought, and I kind of lost my passion for it.” She realized her passion was the future of Pacifi c Mercantile “after my grandma passed away,” she says. “I’ll never forget – you came in and said, ‘Yeah, I think it’s time to talk about the busi- ness,’” recalls her proud mom. Alyssa began working behind the scenes, helping her uncle with stocking and managing the books. “I’m still learning,” Alyssa says. “Uncle Kyle’s put me in charge of more of the or- dering. He still is doing some of it too, as much as he can, but I think he’s ready to just retire.” Nagai, at 65, has faced some health issues and has been in and out of the hospital, which has put more responsibility on Alyssa’s shoulders. Jolie Noguchi agrees. “Yes, she was kind of thrown into the deep end.” It didn’t help that importing goods was also complicated by the tariff war launched by Trump. “It was more nerve-racking in the begin- ning, especially when I realized, oh, eventu- ally this is going to just be me,” Alyssa admits. “But now that I’ve just kind of been thrown into it, it’s getting a little better; I’m not as nervous. It’s still stressful, though. I’m still really stressed every day.” Looking Forward Another source of stress is taking over from Jolie, who’s been the outgoing, friendly presence at Pacifi c now for decades, greeting many customers by name and giving out hugs like penny candy. “I’m more like my uncle than my mom,” Alyssa admits. “I like to stay in the shadows. My mom loves being the face. She is the face of Pacifi c.” New face or not, the future also brings uncertainty. Sakura Square has been slated for redevelopment for the better part of a decade, with applications for city funding fi nally moving forward after years of sput- tering hopes and plans. That process will temporarily displace tenants and create new logistical challenges for a small family business anchored for generations on a single block. For Alyssa and her relatives, the ques- tion isn’t whether they have the grit to get through it — they do — but how to maintain the store’s cultural and emotional ties to the spot that made it vital in the fi rst place. As the next generation to manage Pacifi c Mercantile, Alyssa Noguchi has visions she hopes to implement as part of the new Sakura Square, including obtaining a license to cook bentos in the shop and hosting cooking dem- onstrations and classes for a new generation of customers. In a city that often measures progress in new glass towers and shiny retail corridors, Pacifi c Mercantile is a reminder that legacy is also a kind of infrastructure: networks of memory, taste, practice and trust that can’t be replaced once lost. When customers talk about learning to cook a favorite dish or fi nding a snack they haven’t seen since childhood, they’re talking about more than groceries. They’re talking about anchoring in community, about continuity and identity. Alyssa knows this instinctively. She’ll be taking over not just a business but a set of relationships that span generations. And while the Sakura Square of tomorrow may look different, Pacifi c Mercantile’s capac- ity to endure — to evolve without losing its core — may well defi ne the next chapter of the Japanese American presence in Denver. Pacifi c Mercantile is located at 1925 Lawrence Street and is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit pacifi ceastwest.com for follow @pacifi cmercantileco on Instagram. CAFE FIND MORE FOOD & DRINK COVERAGE AT WESTWORD.COM/RESTAURANTS Two generations of owners: Alyssa and Jolie Noguchi of Pacifi c Mercantile. GIL ASAKAWA
