DP Business Center and Office Suites is a bustling and robust retail complex located at 3821 Gate City Boulevard in Greensboro, North Carolina. Dedicated to serving the fast-growing Asian and Latino communities in the Piedmont region, the complex is an exciting collection of merchants and service-oriented businesses that offer one-of-a-kind shopping, dining and educational experiences.
      Launched by husband and wife Xua and Van D. Nguyen some two decades ago, the story of the Center is that of the American dream, as well as the embodiment of a husband’s love for his wife and the community at large. After emigrating from Vietnam in the late ‘70s, the young couple worked hard to find their way in their adopted country, eventually opening the well-known Oriental Market in 1987, not far from the Center’s location today. Yet, while Xua quickly acclimated to life in America, his wife struggled. “I really felt bad for my wife,” Xua remembers. “She missed her family and friends and the culture that she knew, and learning English was proving a challenge for her. She tried very hard, but because we worked such long hours every day it was difficult for her to get to know people.”
Xua knew that if he could help his wife feel more at home, he could help others as well. His solution was to create a shopping center that would foster a sense of community, a place where those new to the area would find people who could speak their language, who understood their culture, and who would make them feel welcome. A place where immigrants could not only shop for clothing and food at groceries that featured ethnic specialties that tasted like “home,” but also dine out or partake of numerous business services, ranging from laundry to tax preparation, auto and computer repairs and assistance with travel.  He envisioned a unique place, where if people chose, they could even learn a trade, and celebrate important milestones, like birthdays, weddings and other special occasions in their lives.
      Today, DP Business Center, encompasses nearly 20 different businesses, ranging from hair salons to restaurants, ethnic bakeries, grocers and butchers, real estate and travel agencies. “There’s a little bit of everything here,” says Xua, who is responsible for leasing and maintaining the right mix of merchants. “It works well because it is a cross-cultural business that is focused on community. In fact, unlike others in the area, all the businesses here weathered the Recession very well, in part because the Asian and Latino communities continue to grow, and in part because people come, not just to eat and shop, but because they are looking for companionship. They feel welcome here and it feels a little bit like home.”