Today we’d like to introduce you to Tommy Ly
Hi Tommy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Haven City has always been a dream of mine. Growing up, I would travel to Asia and visit various night markets & “Hawker Squares” which have always been the “Center of the Community.” It was just the perfect place to meet friends & family, hang out, and enjoy delicious food. So when I got the chance to build my own, I took all those memories and created Haven City Market.
My background is in the grocery business and initially, HCM Rancho Cucamonga was planned to be a grocery store with just a few small restaurants. However, the city envisioned a better use for the location. After many sleepless nights of preparation, I decided to pitch the “Haven City Market” idea to the City Planning Department and they were immediately on board. So, much of the credit goes to the City of Rancho Cucamonga and their great foresight. We are forever grateful for our relationship and we hope to be keep providing a great product for the city for years to come!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I don’t think Voyage LA has enough pages to list out the struggles along the way. However, the process of planning the concept, to designing, to building out the market, to curating the restaurants, leasing out the spaces, and managing the operations. None of these steps went as smooth as I’d like but I’ve learned a ton over the years.
If I had to pick one struggle that we encountered, I’d have to say it was getting all 30+ restaurant owners and their contractors to align their schedules together so everyone could complete their construction at the same time, inspect their units by city and health departments and open for business simultaneously. Now thinking back, those struggles definitely added a few more gray hairs for me.
Luckily, We now have two locations (Rancho Cucamonga & West Covina) with over 30 restaurants each. Each location had its own challenges but I’m grateful that our community has really rallied behind the brand. I’m looking forward to new opportunities and I’m apparently a glutton for pain so I’m ready for suggestions on which city HCM should go to next.
We’ve been impressed with Haven City Market, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Haven City Market is a community center, where people meet for coffee, lunch, dinner, birthdays, you name it. We want to be the perfect hub for families and friends to come together and break bread. All great stories and memories are told over a meal and we are happy we are providing a place for that.
What sets us apart is that we really strive to have as many different food options as possible. We understand that people love variety and options, so here at Haven City we curate our vendors to provide our community with options that can even satisfy the most pickiest eaters in the family.
We are most proud of the hard work and dedication that comes from our vendors. These restaurant owners work long hours to operate their small business. Most people don’t know the amount of work that each restaurant owner has to do to just open up their doors 7 days a week. From inventory, to food prep, staffing, and even the mundane nightly accounting, our restauranteurs do it all. It’s really a 24 hours a day job and each and everyone of them have really stuck it through for all these years.
I want the readers to know that when visiting Haven City Market, every restaurant is independently owned and operated by small business owners. Community support is essential to their success. Many are mom and pop, pop and son, daughter and mom…you name it, we have it here. We love seeing the support from everyone that walks through our doors and enjoys the amazing food put out by our incredible restaurants.
What makes you happy?
My two beautiful daughters (3yo and 2yo) because they are just nonstop comedy all day and all night.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.havencitymarket.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/havencitymarket/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/havencitymarket
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/haven-city-market-rancho-cucamonga
