An Indian grocery store is coming soon to York County. Here’s what to expect.
A South Asian grocery store with several Charlotte-area locations will add another in Tega Cay.
Triveni Supermarket lists Tega Cay as one of four communities with a “coming soon” site. The 1160 Stonecrest Blvd. address is the first in South Carolina. It’s on the roundabout at Stonecrest Boulevard, across the large parking lot from Walmart.
The new Tega Cay location will be similar to what Triveni has open in Pineville, North Carolina, but there’s no estimate yet for an opening date, a company representative said. Broker Joe Strauss, who listed the property, said he didn’t have opening details.
Triveni stores have groceries, spices and halal meat along with in-house bakeries and prepared Indian meals in a food court. Stores also cater.
The 300 S. Polk St. location in Pineville is a standalone store on half an acre. It’s about a mile from York or Lancaster counties.
The Tega Cay spot in the Stonecrest shopping center is more than 2 acres, purchased in late 2021 by the same Indian Land-based company that owns the Pineville space.
There’s a Triveni Express on Pinnacle Drive and Exotica Indian Kitchen & Bar on College Street in Charlotte. Triveni lists a Concord Mills mall location online as coming soon. There’s also one store and two more coming in Texas, one open in Maryland and two coming in Virginia.
Indian population on the rise in Fort Mill, Tega Cay
The new Tega Cay supermarket will go in a prime location to serve a growing community.
Visit York County lists three Indian restaurants in its international section of county eateries. All are in Fort Mill or Tega Cay. Santhoshi’s Kitchen is also on Stonecrest Boulevard. Cholanadu Indian Bistro and Persis Indian Grill are each within 10 minutes of the new grocery store site, in either direction on S.C. 160 West.
The 2020 Census found two-thirds of the 8,745-person Asian population in York County live in Fort Mill, Tega Cay or the unincorporated area between them. That Fort Mill township area had an Asian population at 7.1%, compared to 3.1% for the county. Tega Cay was even higher at 7.4%. The town of Fort Mill was 5.3%.
The bordering Indian Land panhandle recorded similar demographics. The panhandle had 87.8% of Lancaster County’s Asian population. Just 1.8% of the county population — 1,765 people — was Asian, compared to 3.8% in the panhandle.
The South Asian countries of India, Pakistan and Nepal made up 71.1% of Tega Cay’s Asian population. They accounted for 68.8% in Fort Mill, 54.5% in Lancaster County and 51.4% in York County.
India is by far the largest single country of ethnicity across all those areas.
The South Asian and in particular Indian populations are on the rise, too. Last month the U.S. Census Bureau released new five-year estimates through its American Community Survey. Estimates for 2018-2022 put Tega Cay at a Rock Hill region high 6.8% increase in its Asian population, compared to the prior five-year estimate set. That increase was almost entirely from India.
York County ethnic food grocery store options
There are some options for ethnic food groceries in the Rock Hill region, but most are smaller international sections in larger stores.
There’s a European Food Market and the Aladdin Market in the same part of Indian Land, off Charlotte Highway or U.S. 521. Rock Hill has the popular Las Americas Supermarket that’s often packed with customers on Tuesdays for its 50-cent taco deals.
Google or Yelp searches for ethnic food grocery stores in the area show little on the South Carolina side of the state line. Hits that do appear often are Hispanic food options. A Google search for Indian grocery stores doesn’t show anything between Charlotte and Columbia.
This story was originally published January 4, 2024 at 12:29 PM.
