The credit card machines at the new Seiwa Market at 1801 S. Dairy Ashford Rd. weren’t up and running yet as of Friday, but the Japanese grocery store did open its doors this weekend to cash-only customers as part of a test run soft opening. The market and its internal food court options will eventually be flanked by other Japanese restaurants, from the looks of things: Ramen House Ichi is currently under construction next door, and the Seiwa store manager told the HBJ last month that a high-end Japanese seafood house is planned for the same shopping center somewhere on the other side.

A reader snagged a few shots of the scene inside Seiwa’s space in Suite 116 of the late 1970s Ashford Village Center shopping strip, across from the Dairy Ashford Roller Rink:

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To the south, the grocery store’s current strip center companions include Heroes Collectables comics and tabletop gaming shop (next door to the empty former lair of Slavic disco vodka bar Russian Bear), along with Israeli martial arts studio Krav Fit Now and the Music Academy of Houston. To the north lie Antiques & More of Houston and Ashford Liquor.

• Houston Store [Seiwa Market Japanese Grocery]
• Houston’s First Japanese Supermarket Nears Completion [HBJ]

Photos: Swamplot inbox