[injb]

Does anyone else feel struck with a sense of shameful naivety when you discover (as I just did now) that your beloved local whatever store is actually a nationwide chain?

[cheaprentalyeti]

I guess this means the H doesn't stand for Houston.

[wcedmisten]

It actually stands for Han Ah Reum (한아름), meaning roughly "an armful of groceries" according to Wikipedia.

[add-sub-mul-div]

If H Mart can open a larger store with bigger selection and better prices than a small independent store, then that's great. I don't know whether you mean there's shame in shopping at a chain or shame in not realizing it's a chain, but I promise that both are unnecessary.

[klyrs]

Necessary or not, ignorance revealed induces shame in people. I recently had a similar experience with a coffee shop: felt like I'd discovered something cool in a foreign locale, and then learned that it wasn't a hole in the wall but an international chain. Perhaps shame isn't the right word. Because, as I reread what I've written, I'm describing a perceived loss of exclusivity. The feeling of being ordinary, when one once felt special.

[strikelaserclaw]

if its organized like a chain, it is either a chain or intends to become one.