Gutting the former Food Emporium on Union Square

While waiting for the second half of 2023 for the Wegmans to open on Astor Place... here's a quick look inside the former Food Emporium on 14th Street in the base of the Zeckendorf Towers. 

Workers have gutted the interior ...

... and someone punched out the front door...

As you likely know, a Target is slated for this space. Lois Weiss at the Post first reported on the deal in February 2020. At the time, Food Emporium was expected to be here until April 2023, with Target arriving by the end of the year, per the article. 

While this location is listed on Target's future store locations, there isn't any update about an amended opening timetable. 

Food Emporium closed on May 29.

Food Emporium has closed on Union Square

An EVG reader reports that the Food Emporium on Union Square East has officially closed... we're told Saturday was the last day...

The salmon fillet deal was still being advertised even though the deli department had been packed up days earlier...

As we first reported back in March, this 14th Street location was to close on May 30, according to a WARN notice filed on Feb. 25 with the New York State Department of Labor. 

The WARN filing says that the Food Emporium lease is expiring. The closure will impact 50 employees, per the notice. 

In February 2020, Lois Weiss at the Post reported that Target signed a lease for the 32,579 square feet here in the base of the Zeckendorf Towers. At the time, the Food Emporium was said to stay here through the end of April 2023. Perhaps now Target will push forward their opening date.

And we'll walk off with a passage from Rachel Sugar's March 11 essay at Grub Street titled "New York Grocery Stores Are Uniquely Weird. That’s Why They’re Important" ...

In itself, the Union Square Food Emporium was not special. It was — and is! (until May 30) — what one might call "serviceable," which is to say that it does indeed sell groceries and has two stars on Yelp. But it is emblematic of its kind. It is, like Key Food and Foodtown and C-Town and Gristedes and Associated and Bravo and D’Agostino, a quintessential New York City chain. Are these stores largely mediocre? Of course, but they are distinctly mediocre. And while there are recognizable differences between them, such as quality and ownership and location, spiritually, they are the all same.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• The Union Square Food Emporium looks to be closing at the end of May

On Union Square, Food Emporium makes the upcoming closing official

Closing signs arrived late last week outside the Food Emporium at 10 Union Square East ...

As we first reported back in March, this location will close on May 30, according to a WARN notice filed on Feb. 25 with the New York State Department of Labor. 

The WARN filing says that the Food Emporium lease is expiring. The closure will impact 50 employees, per the notice. 

For now, everything in the store is 30 percent off. (And if you are looking for a Coinstar replacement.)

What's next for the Food Emporium space? In February 2020, Lois Weiss at the Post reported that Target signed a lease for the 32,579 square feet here on 14th Street. At the time, the Food Emporium was said to stay here through the end of April 2023.

Sources told Weiss that, despite the wait, Target wanted to lock in the location along 14th Street. The nearly 16-year lease had an asking rent of $183 per square foot, she reported.

In December 2015, Key Food acquired the Food Emporium banner name and related intellectual property assets, per published reports.

A few blocks away, Chef's Local Harvest, a 10,000-square-foot grocery store, is opening early next year in the former Associated on 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Changes: Looking for a Coinstar replacement after the Food Emporium closes this spring?

In our post last Thursday about the May closure of the Food Emporium on Union Square, a reader lamented the pending loss of the grocery's Coinstar machine.

As another reader noted, there's a Coinstar machine in the lower level of the Kmart on Astor Place.

Also! You can find one at the PayOMatic at 303 E. Houston St. between Clinton and Attorney... where EVG contributor Stacie Joy took these photos the other day...

There is an 11.9 percent service fee here ... (fees may vary by location!) ...

Other nearby locations include the D'Agostino outpost on First Avenue between 20th Street and 21st Street.

The Union Square Food Emporium looks to be closing at the end of May

The Food Emporium at 10 Union Square East will close on May 30, according to a WARN notice filed on Feb. 25 with the New York State Department of Labor. 

While the closure of the supermarket isn't a complete surprise, its timing is. In February 2020, Lois Weiss at the Post reported that Target has signed a lease for the 32,579 square feet here on 14th Street. However, the Food Emporium was said to stay here through the end of April 2023.

Sources told Weiss that, despite the wait, Target wanted to lock in the location along 14th Street. The nearly 16-year lease had an asking rent of $183 per square foot, she reported.

The WARN filing says that the Food Emporium lease is expiring. The closure will impact 50 employees, per the notice. 

In December 2015, Key Food acquired the Food Emporium banner name and related intellectual property assets, per published reports.

This will mark the departure of yet another traditional grocery store in the area. Associated closed on 14th Street in Stuy Town in December 2019.

H/T Bayou! EVG file photo.

Report: Target will replace the Food Emporium in Union Square — in 2023

[EVG photo from 2015]

ICYMI: Lois Weiss at the Post yesterday reported that Target is taking over the Food Emporium space at 10 Union Square East in the base of the Zeckendorf Towers. However, the takeover won't happen until 2023.

Per Weiss:

While Target has just signed a lease for 32,579 square feet at 10 Union Square East, the space is still occupied by the Food Emporium until the end of April in 2023.

Despite the wait, sources said Target wanted to lock in the location along East 14th Street. The nearly 16-year lease had an asking rent of $183 per square foot.

In December 2015, Key Food acquired the Food Emporium banner name and related intellectual property assets, per published reports.

This will mark the departure of yet another traditional grocery store in the area. Associated closed on 14th Street in Stuy Town in December, a location very close to the Target that opened in July 2018.

Report: The Union Square Food Emporium will become a Key Food

[Photo via]

Back in July, A&P filed for chapter 11, its second bankruptcy of the decade. According to published reports, the grocery chain, whose brands include The Food Emporium, Pathmark and Waldbaum’s, plans to sell or close most stores.

As for the Food Emporium on East 14th Street in the base of the Zeckendorf Towers, one industry publication reports that this location will be sold to Key Food…



No word just yet on the timing of the transition … one EVG reader noted that some shelves are no longer being restocked….