The chain had been created as a joint venture of Uni-President Enterprises Corporation, one of Taiwan's ten largest conglomerates; Tawa Supermarkets Inc., a California-based chain of Asian supermarkets; and a group of Canadian investors. Chief executive officer Cindy Lee is a Taiwanese-Canadian who started the business with one store.
The first "T" stands for Tawa Supermarket Inc; the second "T" represents Uni-President Enterprises Corp., whose Chinese name is pronounced "Tung Yee".