S International Market: New Grocery Store in Oak Hill Jackson

 

Entrance, 803 3rd Avenue SE
(approaching intersection with 8th Street)

Nearly a year after the closing of the 1st Avenue Hy-Vee, Waterloo-based S International Market opened a second location near downtown this spring. They specialize in South Asian cuisine, while also having a variety of basic offerings for any taste. The building was previously a Jeff Jones furniture outlet, and before that Hawkeye Seed Company; back in 1953 it housed the Kadlec Brothers Studebaker dealership on what used to be Auto Row. S International Market is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is not in a residential area, but is conveniently walkable to a lot of people east of downtown. The entrance is off the sidewalk on 3rd Avenue; its modest parking lot is east of the building.

The first section past the entrance has a wide variety of snack food. The health and beauty aids section is a sharp left turn once inside the door. Along the windows facing 3rd Avenue are gigantic bags of rice and other staples, enough to feed any size crowd or supply any prepper.

Looking through windows at great big sacks

I'd brought a short list for a pickup shopping the first time I visited, not really knowing what lay beyond the rice. They have a large selection of meat and eggs, but their milk collection was one gallon of whole milk. I didn't find yogurt in the cooler, which surprised me. When I asked the woman at the checkout, she found me their last bottle of yogurt drink, which didn't serve.

far aisle: cooking pots and more rice, produce cooler

meat selection

For Pooh: Honey and condensed milk
(I couldn't find the "international preserves," though; I could have asked)

Coffee aisle; they also have an outstanding
selection of teas

The coffee aisle included a variety of "white" coffee, which I hadn't previously encountered. According to Johny Morrison's highly informative Coffee About site, white coffee is a coffee bean that hasn't been roasted long enough to make it brown. (S International Market also sells "brown" coffee, another new term on me, but that's merely what before today I would have just called "coffee" [Color With Leo 2025.]) White coffee has a "nutty and earthy flavor profile," but are so dense and hard they can ruin home grinders (Morrison 2024).

They do not sell wine, beer or liquor.

I'm glad S International Market is in the area. For many people in Cedar Rapids it is their closest grocery store. If I were to do a serious shopping there, though, I would have either (a) to prepare by accompanying another shopper who knows what they're doing, or (b) just to plan my meals around whatever I can find, which could be fun but risky if you are cooking for someone else.

Today's haul at home: drinks and candy

S International Market joins Saigon Market, 803 2nd Avenue SE, one block away. Hornbill Asian Market, 1445 1st Avenue SE, will open Saturday, December 20. The nearest grocery with an African focus is Mula African Food Market, across the river at 425 3rd Avenue SW; several more are located farther out on the west side.