Viet-Wah supermarket lion statues saved by community members after fire

SEATTLE — Community members in Seattle's Chinatown International District are coming together to save two statues that survived a fire at the former site of the Viet-Wah supermarket.

“It’s just tragic to see a business that has such an important history leave the neighborhood like this,” Quynh Pham said. “They've been around since the '80s, so they were one of the first grocery stores, Vietnamese and Chinese grocery stores established in Seattle.

Although Viet-Wah closed this place two years ago, community members like Pham wanted to ensure the history and culture survived.

“These are the Viet-Wah lions, they are here safe and protected and we are very excited to be able to save them,” Pham said while showing the lions on June 12.

Pham is the executive director of Friends of Little Saigon, a non-profit organization focused on revitalizing the Little Saigon neighborhood. She was delighted to learn that these two lion statues, perched at the entrance for 41 years, had remained intact.

“There's a lot of cultural significance in being protectors of spaces and so we thought it was important to protect them so that they can then protect the neighborhood,” Pham said.

Pham led the effort, with help from neighboring businesses, to move the couple Tuesday afternoon to the nearby Lam Seafood Market for storage. She said the lions would stay there for the time being. With the plan to integrate them into the future Vietnamese cultural and economic center which will open its doors in 2027.

“We were all really excited about saving something to be able to save some of the history and then potentially invest it into something of the future for this community,” Pham said. “It’s very comforting.”

Seattle fire investigators ruled the cause of the fire “undetermined.”

Viet-Wah owners told KING 5 they are happy the lions will have a new home in the neighborhood and that a small piece of Viet-Wah will live in this cultural and economic hub for years to come.