TS Emporium 德成行 — Attraction in Temple City

TS Emporium has been around since I was in elementary school and my mom would always take me along with her to the store on right by Garvey and Garfield. I pretty much grew up with this store as the go-to place for herbs and spices. Never have I ever visited a store such as TS Emporium that has all the necessary ingredients Chinese people need for their traditional remedies, recipes, and medicine all in one place. Whether you're Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or Taiwanese, a lot of the products here are catered to most Asians in general and the stuff you find at supermarkets will most definitely be more expensive and poorer quality. I'm just happy that they finally opened one up north of the 10 freeway in the Temple City/San Gabriel area so that most individuals do not need to bother to drive out to Monterey Park or Rowland Heights for their other locations.

Although I don't know how to make all those delicious traditional dishes with stuff like Lotus Seeds, Goji Berries, and all those roots/leaves with their scientific names, I know for sure I will visit any of the TS Emporium stores to find what I need. However, if you ever visit Hong Kong or Taiwan, getting the same quality products or better, will be at least half the price in the states but only if you can get some of the items through customs; good luck. Stuff like dried abalone, dried scallops, "birds nest", ginseng, and dried mushrooms are my top items to buy here. Pretty much any "dried" foods are always on my shopping list or my parents' shopping list.

Also, the produce here is relatively cheaper than the major supermarket chains around the area. If you're nice enough to the people who pack it up in the back, you can ask for a smaller bag of whatever produce you need because I can never finish an entire bag that they've already prepackaged and I love the fact they give you an option. Just make sure you thank them for doing that for you and try not to ask them multiple times for different items. Most of their non-dried items are priced competitively so you'll have to shop around to find the cheapest at places like Good Fortune,168, 99 Ranch, or Great Wall...

The new store is much closer to me so I have been coming here since they opened. I have bought vegetables, dry seafood, fried mushrooms, can goods, frozen foods, snacks and cold/fresh items from the refrigerator

THE GOOD I like it that this store is spacious and still clean. The cashier ladies are friendly. The vegetables in general are of good quality and not soaking wet like the supermarkets. I once bought a Japanese pumpkin and the inside turned out to be rotten. I took it back and exchanged with something else. There are plenty of parking spaces.

THE BAD Lately the same dried black mushrooms that I have bought many times from them turn into very poor quality. They do not have the good smell of mushrooms. The marks on the mushrooms that make them "flower mushroom" apparently were stamped on. Once they are washed, the top layer of the black mushroom all fall off.

I have shared the feedback with the store manager, I believe. She's the one who checks the merchandise and is in charge of the ordering. Hopefully they will look into it and make corrective actions.

THE UGLY Parking on the weekends can get ugly. Although you are probably still be able find parking much further back. Broadway can get busy with traffic particularly during rush hours. So going in and out can be challenging especially if you try to make a left turn out of the parking lot.

CONCLUSION Now I purchase my dried mushrooms elsewhere. I still go to TS Emporium to purchase my vegetables and other items due to convenience albeit...

TS Emporium has just opened it newest branch in Rosemead occupying the former Pep Boys store.

On its first day of grand opening, there are a lot of promotional gifts giving out to patrons. Depending on the purchase amount, gifts packages vary with different practical things such as utensils, seasoning sauces and lunar calendars.

This is by far the biggest stores of the Chinese herb specialty store chain. They have all the usual Chinese herbs plus all the other Chinese grocery items as well as freshly delivered produces directly from the local farms.

For me, I normally shop at TS Emporium for Chinese cooking sauce and spices. They have the most comprehensive stocks of Chinese cooking ingredients. I can cook up a storm of any Chinese dish with ingredients here.

Lastly, if you’re looking for an auto rice cooker, this place has all types and brands of rice cooker. We bought a 3 cup small rice cooker that’s made in Japan as Christmas present for our mom.

During grand opening week, parking maybe a bit challenging. But they do have a lot of parking spaces...