Great Wall Supermarket — Attraction in Rockville

As a store in Rockville, it's very competitive with the other Chiense grocery stores in the Rockville area. However, when I went into the store on 7/2, I was greatly disappointed. It had no grand opening feeling. No gimmicks, except for tilapia on sale for $3.99/lb and taro root for 0.99/lb nothing much was a hot deal. No gifts/no raffles/nothing. Not even a free gift with/out purchase. Even if it wasn't a grand opening sale...there should be a feeling of a big sale for the 4th of July (due to bbqs and whatnot)

It felt like a sorta cramped maze. (A person enters and the first thing they see is Lee Geum Kee.) The store is big, but the first thing people see are the dry goods. Cutting boards are cheap, but a person only needs to buy one cutting board and it'll last for a good while. The samples(?) consisted of uncooked cold tofu and a a weird iced tea drink. It takes a while for a person to reach the meat/seafood dept. The aisles are also a bit tight (not easy to have 2 carts in opposite directions) The fish dept was VERY chaotic. No organization whatsoever. People couldn't recognize which fish/order was there. Also, there was a growing obvious fish smell... (it can't be helped, I guess. High ceilings and limited AC and while the food is okay, the smell will be there...)

The employees were still training and you could see the handcarts still moving around. Sounds great until you get bumped and have the boxes fall over you when the employee was a bit in a rush.

The food court/bakery section under normal circumstances would be okay, but with only 1 cashier to hand the chinese bbq/takeout/bakery section, it became bottlenecked. I would suggest for the bbq dept to take down the nice neat TINY list of prices and put up signs with larger font/handwriting so that people won't need to ask. Also, I would also suggest that the roasted pork be more frequent. (It was 10 am and the roasted pork was already gone...sheesh) Prices were fair, but how can people determine if the product is decent if it's not there?! The takeout counter sorta seemed fast and furious, but that might also be because they might've been in small batches. It would've helped if people to taste a little of some of the items. The bakery(?) area was one of the most disappointing areas. No egg tarts, no giant fried noodle, and only a extremely limited selection of breads that a person would have to self serve. Saddest thing of all, the stuff didn't look all that appetizing! (the cheapest bread as $1.20! Even as an impulsive purchase, I couldn't rationalize it due to the hassle) I would also suggest that the offer some coffee/hot milk tea or something. Nothing in the area...sigh.

The parking lot itself will be okay during normal operation, but on the grand opening weekend, it's impossible! There's also no traffic signal to assist people in exiting the parking lot and onto the street.

Overall, if you live in Rockville, I'd say it's okay. Big store, big lot. (Compared to Maxim and Kim San, it's cheaper) If you live closer to the Gaithersburg Germantown area, save your time and money and stay with Lotte and Hmart. (7/3/11 Google won't let me space...

February 2024 A lot of changes, unfortunately, most are negative. Store is messy. Areas, like frozen food and refrigerated - are unsanitary. Some prices in produce are really good deals. Others not so much. Meat, fish, seafood pricing no longer competitive with traditional markets.

The worst though, is customer service. Employees are no longer friendly or helpful. When I pointed out to the cashier that the price for my tofu product was incorrect. She just said, "No!" I replied, "What do you mean, no? Just take a look for yourself. There are sale signs all over the back wall where the tofu products are located." She refused to look for herself. So if you chose to shop here, I recommend taking photos especially if the item is on sale.

Definitely no longer a 5 Star business like HMart in Fairfax or Lotte Market in Springfield.

5-Star Review from several years ago: This is the best Asian supermarket in the DC area. The best quality and best prices for fresh fish, shellfish, meat, poultry, and produce. Biggest selection of teas, spices, tofu, Asian noodles, Asian sauces etc....Very bright and clean. Nice staff. Friendly employees. Don't be intimidated if you do not speak Chinese. Most staff speak English, several Spanish and others Cantonese. Everyone is friendly and...

I am grateful for americans living consciously enough to pay heed to the substantiated rumors of oppression towards people of Uyghur heritage in China, and their sincere efforts to not support it.

I am thankful to the eastern carryout restaurants local to me, because I was able to strongly convince them to stay clear of such products and to stay cleaner through meticulous practices, ones kitchen and one's pan are as the condition of one's mind and heart!

I am thankful that they expressed a common source being a provider called Great Wall Market where many of the asian ingredients are purchased, but because the restaurants have actually felt their conscience directing them to request integrity ingredients only, the restaurant managers report some changes in recipe and ingredients as Great Wall Market has updated its sources to more fair trade quality and eco conscious goods.

I am pleased at the effect of the many restaurants on the bigger orderers. I am pleased and grateful for the sensitivity of Great Wall Market for responding to the moral concerns of its clients in an enlightened fashion. We are graded a conscious and nonhypocritical region, and I am grateful for...