This place does NOT only cater to Hmong people...it may appear that way because of the large Hmong population in the Twin Cities. But, how often are you correct about a stranger's ethnicity? Truth of the matter is, this store carry an expansive inventory of products from all over the world, mainly Asia. Everyone goes there...I mean EVERYONE from all walks of life. And as for the smell? Well, I suppose it's difficult to suppress the many different mingled smells of the world. Maybe they should carry cheese to complete the collection of "distgusting" smells. ;)