Chinatown’s new bi-level store offers everything from skin care to ramen noodles

You & Me, a new bi-level store on North 11th Street, is adding to Chinatown’s growing footprint of stores featuring nonperishable imported goods, such as Ebisu Japanese Life Store around the corner on Arch Street.

And local chain Hung Vuong Food Market, which has five locations in the Philly area, is located behind the new shop. It features a toy store called You & Me on the ground floor and a convenience store called EnJoy Market on the second, lower level. The store replaced Asia Supermarket in Chinatown and opened in mid-March, according to Instagram. Store management was not available for comment.

South Philly resident Bill Albertson ventured out to the new store in search of a specific brand of Japanese chocolate on a recent Friday afternoon. His coworker had told him about You & Me that morning, and he decided to check it out “the second I leave work.”

“When it used to be Asia Supermarket, this would be my spot when I lived in Center City,” Albertson said. “I lived in China for a year and I lived in Japan for two years. ... I wanted to see if there was anything here that I ate when I lived [abroad] and haven’t had for a while.”

On the ground floor, you’ll find plush toys and figurines stacked on shelves, and neon-glowing coin claw machines with toys and candy up for grabs.

Walk down the rainbow steps to the second level and prepare to spend hours exploring the large inventory of imported goods. The first thing you’ll see are aisles filled with snacks, including shrimp crackers and Pocky sticks, instant ramen, chocolates, candies, and more. But it’s better to start with the beauty products to your left and work your way through the store.

Peruse lotions, mascaras, face masks, onigiri-shaped bath balls, hair clips and ties, hydrocolloid acne patches, soaps, and more. Cartoon lunch boxes and water bottles sit nearby, along with Lego sets, phone accessories, stationery, and other fun items. The frozen section offers a wide selection of desserts, from ice cream pops to cake slices, and canned Thai ice teas and coffees line shelves near the cash registers. There is also a cafeteria with tables and chairs.

Drexel students Ryssa Staudt and Aviv Andur stopped by the store to do some grocery shopping but got distracted by the selection of funky cartoonish kitchen timers. It was Staudt’s second time at the shop — she decided to come back with Andur to explore more.

“I came here the first time earlier this week with my partner and we were like ‘we’re going to buy a little dessert’ and then we ended up spending 30 minutes in here,” Staudt said. “We were just walking up and down the aisles over and over again.”

📍143 N. 11th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 📞 267-284-0006, 🌐 instagram.com/youme666666