Mein-stream!

USUALLY FOUND IN OUTSKIRTS, THIS CHINESE SUPERMARKET HAS OPENED RIGHT IN CENTRE OF ALTRINCHAM

- BEN ARNOLD

"THIS is not just a store, it's much more than that," says Louise Yip. "It's carrying on a legacy." With her husband Andy, she has just opened the Chi Yip Market right in the centre of Altrincham.

A pan-Asian supermarket, it has it all from aisles groaning with ramen to fresh choi sum greens to glossy barbecued duck and sweet char sui pork to vividly colourful ice cream and bubble tea.

But as she says, it's a bit more than just a shop. Andy's dad, who passed away in 2016, founded the Chi Yip Group, starting out by selling spare ribs to chip shops before opening a cash and carry in Middleton and the much-loved Ocean Treasure restaurant above it.

Stewart Yip, who died at just 60, was also the President of the Federation of Chinese Associations of Manchester and went on to expand the business to a chain of Red Chilli restaurants in Manchester, Leeds and York, as well as the upscale Sakana on Peter Street and K2 Karaoke in Chinatown.

Andy's brother Ricky is also in the trade, having opened the hugely successful Hello Oriental off Oxford Road last year. The pair of them grew up stacking shelves in the cash and carry and helping out in the restaurant from as early as they can both remember (another of their brothers also runs the supermarket in Hello Oriental too).