Lynchburg grocery store serves multiple cultures

The sign outside Peter “Pedro” Jung’s Fort Avenue store speaks to people in three languages. “La Tienda International,” it reads across the top.

Below, a couple lines of Korean script translate to “Lynchburg Korean Grocery Store.”

In English the sign says, “Mexican Korean Food and Gifts.”

The storefront carries four countries’ flags plus handwritten notes taped up to advertise jobs and items for sale in Spanish.

As customers come in, the Korean native Jung greets them in Spanish. As they check out, he invites them to his church.

It’s been 2½ years since Jung started La Tienda International with $4,000 from a friend, eight credit cards and a truckload of foreign foods.

It caters to multiple cultures (he also sells some African items) with ingredients, spices and prepared foods that are rare in larger stores.

But since Jung is as concerned with ministry as he is with business, he also helps his customers fill out important forms and find jobs or services they need. He’s even started an English-as-a-second-language class in his store.

As the area’s immigrant population grows, La Tienda has found a niche servicing the needs of new arrivals.

Wayne Toler employs several Mexican workers at Toler Insulating in Campbell County — and many of them frequent Jung’s store. He said this kind of service is important in an area with a growing immigrant population.

“We’re seeing more and more international people coming to work,” Toler said. “We see it in new construction every day.”

Language and cultural barriers make it harder for them to buy houses and cars, or to get their children enrolled in school, he said.

Helping break down those barriers is one of Jung’s goals.

He first came from Korea to the U.S. to study at Liberty University’s seminary in 1993.

He returned to Korea for several years, then moved back to the U.S. and became pastor of a Korean church near Washington, D.C., for a short time.

He came back to Lynchburg in 2000 in hopes of starting a church for immigrants, especially Koreans.

Eventually, he told Larry Davies, senior pastor at Timberlake United Methodist Church, about his dream. Davies liked the idea and invited Jung to use his church’s sanctuary for Sunday meetings.

In 2001 Jung began preaching there every Sunday afternoon. Though he began with a more diverse congregation, it eventually evolved into a Hispanic crowd, Davies said.

Davies is impressed with Jung’s ministry. “This is a guy who comes from Korea. He was trying to start a church for Koreans,” he said. “He ended up with a church full of Hispanics.”

The United Methodist Church paid Jung as a missionary for three years. His wife Grace received her real estate license and they bought several houses as investments.

Until 2004, Jung preached through a Spanish translator. Then members of his church said they wanted to hear his Spanish.

Jung started studying Spanish in a dictionary and through a few months of classes.

“I don’t know why I didn’t learn Spanish sooner,” Jung said, smiling. “It’s a useful language.”

During those years, Jung decided he needed a store to reach out to more of the international community. But he didn’t have enough money.

A friend gave him $4,000, which bought just the sign for the store, he said.

“Then one day I got one letter from American Express,” Jung said. “I had no money, but I had good credit.”

He applied and got an American Express card. He took it to Washington, D.C., where he filled a pickup truck at an international products distributor.

He opened La Tienda in 2005.

It was a learning experience for Jung and his family. For a while they used eight credit cards to keep it going.

“The first year was so hard,” he said. “I never learned the retail store business in my seminary.”

It took a while to find out exactly what to sell, but his customers taught him what Hispanic products they
wanted.

Now, the store has become more popular, more well known, and has built a customer base.

“It’s steady, and growing, so it’s good financially,” said Grace Jung.

Jose Montisinos, who works for Toler Insulating, said he finds some Mexican foods at La Tienda for a lower price than other stores, plus some that he can’t find elsewhere.

He spends about $45 per week at La Tienda. He doesn’t know Jung well, but, “He always invites me to church,” Montisinos said.

“Just providing them material help does not provide them what they really need,” Jung said.

Last year, Jung asked Jill Murray, a Lynchburg College student from Manassas, to teach an English class for Hispanics at the store.

Murray, who frequented the store to practice speaking Korean with Jung, hadn’t studied Spanish since high school.

But she said she’d give it a shot.

She teaches on Mondays at 6:30 p.m., with anywhere from one to several people attending.

Jung also helps people fill out applications for jobs or international drivers licenses. He has helped occasionally with tax forms.

Those are services he once hoped to provide through an International Community Service Center. He and his wife bought a house several years ago to be the center’s office. They raised money to renovate it with some help from Toler.

They applied for the center to get a grant from the city several years ago, but did not receive it.

Though the service center is not working out the way he’d planned, Jung continues to let his store serve as a classroom, and as a place where he can help.

He’s also hoping to grow the business, taking suggestions for more cultural products to sell.

“Now I believe I have good products that you cannot find at the Wal-Mart,” Jung said. “I will be successful.”

‘Now I believe I have good products that you cannot find at the Wal-Mart. I will be successful.’ - Peter Jung,  La Tienda International owner. The market has become a cultural hub for new immigrants and seasonal workers. KIM RAFF/THE NEWS & ADVANCE

Jung provides a place for people to get hard-to-find ethnic food from around the world, such as these beans. KIM RAFF/THE NEWS & ADVANCE

Jung tapes different currency from his customers’ native countries on the counter at the register. KIM RAFF/THE NEWS & ADVANCE

Bliss Jung, Peter Jung’s son, skateboards in the aisles of La Tienda International Market on Dec. 26.  While on winter vacation, Bliss spent his days helping his father out in the store. KIM RAFF/THE NEWS & ADVANCE