The History, Role and Activity of National KARGO

Initially established in 1989 primarily as an advocacy organization for Korean-American businessmen in certain areas, National KAGRO has come to present much more.  Not only has it become a major power in the minority retail sector, it has grown into a multi-billion dollar entity in the food industry.

Over the past fifteen years, the words             “dedication” and “concern” have comet to symbolize the mindset of many KAGRO members.  The history of National KAGRO itself is based upon concern for fellow grocers and the willingness to create an entity that would bring recognition to a previously ignored booming segment of the industry.

National KAGRO began simply as an idea of two relatively small grocers’ organizations on opposite shores – located in Los Angeles of California and Philadelphia.  In 1987, these two organizations began talks only with the intentions of sharing ideas and retail methods.  As the relationship between the two organizations blossomed, common needs and problems in the retail business were uncovered.

With the hope of creating a united information-sharing, problem-solving network, the two organizations set out to find other Korean-owned grocery and liquor stores by searching through Korean directories in other major cities in the country.

For two years, letters were sent and phone calls were made.  The search was on for other Korean-American food retail organizations.
The efforts of these two organizations to unite a scattered group of an ever-growing chain of Koran food retailers were finally acknowledged and, two years later, National KAGRO was formed with eight charter chapters – Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., ad Seattle.

Since that time, KAGRO has organized 30 more chapters with four from Canada – Ontario, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal.  KAGRO-Montreal is the latest addition to the KAGRO roster, incepted during a national board meeting in Florida few years ago.  [The Canadian KAGRO chapters are also known as the Korean Businessmen’s Association and are united nationally within the country.]

Since the first national meeting in Seattle, Washington, in May of 1990, KAGRO has continued as an active model in the growth of other regional chapters.

Today, National KAGRO comprises 30 regional chapters with over 25,000 stores from throughout North American.  Combined, these stores generate approximately $ 15 billion annually.  This means whopping $15 billion buying power possessed by Korean American retailers in the food industry.

“The numbers are indeed astounding but we must remember that none of this would have been possible without the efforts of our members as well as officers, both present and past, “It’s truly incredible how far we can go with only determination and perseverance on our side.”

The incredible growth of the organization also gave National KAGRO a secure foundation during times of disaster and devastation.  Shortly after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, KAGRO rallied behind the victims in offering relief and support.

Korean American grocery and retail stores were among some of the hardest hit by the disaster.  According to statistics, 2,073 of the stores damaged during the riots were Korean-owned, amounting a total loss of $359 million.

“looking back, the causes of the riots were not as important as the needs of the victims after that devastation, KAGRO was just concerned with helping members re-open their stores and improving race relations within the inner cities,”

In the months following the riots, the California chapter increased its efforts of advocacy by hiring an attorney, Ryan Song, as the executive director of the organization.  Song has since moved to another position but, at that time, the efforts of the chapter in bringing legal aid to its member were pioneering.  The language barriers broke due to the efforts of a bilingual officer of the chapter who was willing to aid members in any way possible.

Additionally, because KAGRO was known to represent Korean-owned stores, many looked to the organization, both locally as well as nationally, for help and members from other regional chapters generously donated dollars and inventory to help in the cause. 

In the area of improving race relations, National KAGRO played an important part in setting up talks with representatives from the African-American and Hispanic-American communities in order to improve lines of communication.  The organization also initiated peace talks with area gang members in efforts to curb violent acts committed against Korean-owned business.

National KAGRO has always proven itself to be quick in acting on behalf of fellow grocers and the Korean American community in general.  Since its establishment, National KAGRO has signed various agreements with a number of major companies in order to attain pricing benefits and program advantages for all members.

Beginning as early as 1992, KAGGO has worked with such companies as Travers Express Money Gram in rebate programs and AT & T through the Profit by Association (PBA) program where members would enjoy lower long distance rates and rebates based on sign-ups.

Today, regional chapters have united with other nearby chapters in creating with other nearby chapters in creating co-op purchasing programs.  The Canadian chapters, for instance, have greatly benefited from rebates and other such programs but members from the U.S. are not able to take part in because of differing regulations and pricing.

Through the auspices of National KAGRO, the organization published its first issue of the National KAGRO journal in 1991.  After a brief hiatus in 1992, the Journal continues to run on a bi-monthly basis reporting on news and updates on the organization and related governmental issues

Another concern over the years has been the steep competition from area supermarkets and super concerns.  Often membership stores feel victimized to accusations from area consumers that these stores were overcharging for their products.  The general perception was that Korean grocers were greedy and were jacking up prices for higher profits.  Some of these false perceptions have originated from negative media portrayals in some movies, rap songs and newspapers.

Facts show that these stores were not changing more but simply lacked the buying power of the larger supermarket chains.  The larger the purchase from manufacturers, the larger the discount; and the larger the discount, the lower the prices paid by consumers.  KAGRO stores were unable to receive the same store discounts because of the store size.

From this concern various KAGRO co-op warehouses have sprouted up around the nation, so collectively, KAGRO stores would be eligible for the same bulk purchase discounts as their competitors.  Members in KAGRO-Washington, DC, thus far run the largest single warehouse.

KAGRO is indeed proud of the resourcefulness and dedication of our members who are operating these warehouses,because of differing state regulations, it’s close to impossible to have a national co-op center but we can and do have regional co-op warehouses sometimes combining the efforts of two or more state chapters.

Another fast-rising concern is the use of technology in the use of technology in the industry.  For many years, KAGRO members often lagged behind the other grocery chains in terms of computerization and a centralized inventory system.  The association is continuing to seek improvements and avenues of incorporating computer systems into the KAGRO retail methodology.

KAGRO need to begin with the basics an e-mail system that can be made available to all members, a functioning website, retailers who are willing to sue advance technology. We are almost there in that we have a functioning website and members who are already online but we still need our members to adopt a centralized system that will eventually benefit everyone.

As with prevailing spirit of the present time, KAGRO firmly believes in the power of unity, America has been built upon the notion of “United we stand, divided we fall.”  KAGRO too have been built on that belief.  The future is looking bring for KAGRO.  Seventeen years of commitment and dedication are proof that KAGRO will continue to be a leading force in the food industry.