GoFundMe Aims To Save Struggling UWS Staple Han's Family Market

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN — Upper West Siders are rallying behind a neighborhood institution whose financial woes have grown during the coronavirus crisis.

A GoFundMe started late last week aims to raise at lest $10,000 for Han's Fruit & Vegetable Marke, also known as Han's Family Market, which has been open on the corner of West 93rd Street and Broadway for three decades.

"Help keep UWS bodega Han's Family Market open!" the fundraiser, started by Jennifer Schwam reads. "They are struggling financially due to the pandemic, and this is a small business we don't want to lose."

The Korean market, run by Joo Han, has been feeling the squeeze of New York City's market forces since long before the coronavirus pandemic, which has put a financial strain on many of the city's small businesses.

Han, who took over the market from his parents in 1998, told Patch last year that a $20,000-a-month rent and competition from both hair stores and small-time fruit merchants had been making it difficult for the market to continue turning a profit.

The market was founded by Han's parents, Mun Nam Han and Ok Kum Han, shortly after the family came to the United States from Korea in 1978. The original location was on 92nd and Broadway, but within a few years they had moved to the present location a block north.

Joo Han joined the business by helping his parents as a child and eventually took it over after his dad passed away and his mom became sick.

He now shares the market with his wife Jenny, who he met at the store, their son Derek, his brother-in-law Danny and his brother, Tommy.

"They sell the freshest fruits and vegetables around, and have everything else you could ever want too," Schwam wrote on the GoFundMe, which had raised more than $1,000 as of Tuesday.

"Also, Mr. Han deals with tough customers with such grace. Plus he's funny. This is our corner store that we don't ever want to lose. Please help save this small business for many years to come."

Patch reporter Gus Saltonstall contributed to this report. Read Patch's full interview with Han here.