Asian Corners Mall

Megan Nguyen (left) and Ivy Nguyen, two of the three sisters who created Asian Corner Mall, 2008. Photo by Nancy Pierce, Principal Exhibit Photographer.

We needed a place where people can talk, a place for children to run around.

- Mimi Nguyen, co-owner of Asian Corner

The older generation... you have Saigon Square, you've got Asian Corner Mall, all these locations. What it does is it allows the opportunity to shop and do all these things within their culture and language.

- Michael Nguyen

Three Vietnamese sisters bought this nearly abandoned shopping center on North Tryon Street in the late 1990s. Now it holds two Asian supermarkets, smaller shops selling cookware, music and clothing, and several restaurants.

Inside the mall, community groups come together to celebrate Vietnamese New Year each February.