Chicago Oriental Wholesale Market

About this location

A few stories people tell about this place

1. One morning, as customers were browsing through the aisles, an unfamiliar voice crackled over the store’s PA system: ‘Attention, everyone—we’ve got fresh dragon fruit today, and it’s talking!’ Curiosity got the better of one regular who approached the fruit section. He picked up a dragon fruit, and suddenly it started whispering in Mandarin! The whole store erupted in laughter when he tried to translate its words for everyone. In the end, nobody understood what the fruit said, but they all agreed on one thing—they’d never look at produce the same way again.

2. In the early hours of one foggy morning, a delivery driver pulled up to the loading dock with a truck full of exotic produce. As he unloaded crates labeled ‘Special Order,’ a curious neighborhood cat began following him around the market, its eyes fixed on something hidden beneath the boxes. Suddenly, the cat leaped onto an open crate, revealing a mysterious box marked only with kanji characters. The driver cautiously opened it and found…nothing but a note reading: 'For your curiosity.' Turns out, it was just a free sample of Japanese yuzu soap. A regular customer later joked that maybe the cat was trying to tell them they needed more fragrant products.

3. In the late afternoon, when the market was almost empty, a regular stopped by the cheese counter and asked curiously, ‘Do you ever get cheese delivered by flying ducks?’ The cashier looked puzzled for a moment, then burst out laughing. 'Only in Chicago,' she replied with a smile. The regular nodded knowingly as he left, muttering something about how his neighbor always jokes that their weekly milk delivery comes from a flying cow.'

4. In the middle of the night, a faint humming sound echoed through the quiet streets near Chicago Oriental Wholesale Market. A delivery driver pulling up to the loading dock noticed it first, but soon enough, neighbors began reporting hearing the same eerie tune coming from inside the store. Curious, the manager decided to investigate and found nothing out of place—just an old radio playing some forgotten Chinese pop song. From then on, whenever anyone heard the humming, they’d joke that maybe it was just the market’s way of welcoming customers with good vibes.