Nami’s Market, located in an unassuming strip mall in north Phoenix, is a unique combination of convenience store and deli. Its shelves, stocked with ramen, banana milk and canned lattes, call to mind convenience stores in South Korea that have gone viral on social media lately.
The centerpiece of the small market is a dizzying array of house-made banchan. Cabbage and cucumber kimchi, fishcakes, anchovy and spicy squid are just a few of the delicacies that fill an entire display case. It’s the variety and freshness of these prepared foods that set Nami apart from other similar mom-and-pop stores in the Valley that specialize in Korean snacks.
Next to the banchan are containers of grab-and-go food. Onigiri, savory tuna or pork cocooned in a ball of rice and wrapped with salty seaweed, are folded each morning by Soony Lee, who owns Nami with her husband Kevin Kim…