Start spreading the news: We’re coming to Manhattan in 2023! #WegmansManhattan
— Wegmans Food Markets (@Wegmans) July 29, 2021
Learn more: https://t.co/vcOcIRi9d3 pic.twitter.com/zcZHErxqW2
Hot off the press (release):
The Manhattan Wegmans, scheduled to open in the second half of 2023, will be located at Vornado's 770 Broadway, the former site of the Astor Place Kmart.Wegmans opened its first NYC store in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in October of 2019"We are so excited to bring Wegmans to Manhattan. This is something we've been dreaming about and working toward for a long time," said Colleen Wegman, president and CEO of Wegmans Food Markets. "The community's response to the opening of our Brooklyn store had an excitement and energy that you can only experience in New York City. You can feel that energy returning to the city, and we are thrilled to be a part of it."
Kmart closed without much notice on July 11 after 25 years in business, as we first reported.
More to come...
Two years to build out ?
ReplyDeleteI hope they include the bulk foods section at this location!
ReplyDeleteYes!! I agree!!!
DeleteThere is bulk foods at the 4th St Food Coop FYI.
Delete+1 for the 4th Street Food Co-op. There’s also a bulk foods section at East Village Organic on 1st Ave. and E. 7th.
DeleteMy jaw actually dropped. RIP Kmart but welcome Wegmans!
ReplyDeleteGreat news but "second half of 2023"???? Why does it have to take 2 years to get this going? We need this sooner.
ReplyDeleteSecond half of 2023 is a hell of a long time to get opened
ReplyDeleteWell they probably just signed the deal it takes forever to open a business in NYC. It's a bureaucratic nightmare even for big companies.
ReplyDeleteGreat news. Never been to one, but here they are life changing. So, let's see. But fuck. Two years is quite a long time. They must be doing a complete gut renovation of the top and bottom floors. It will be interesting. The good thing is that this will be a positive boost for our community that has been ravaged with the loss of numerous businesses. It's like a desert at the moment.
ReplyDeletewelcome, hope we all make it to 2023
ReplyDelete2 years?!
ReplyDeleteThis news destroys any of my motivation to ever move upstate again.
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteNew Yorker Market on 2nd Ave is struggling. Let’s give them some support or we’ll lose them before we get Wegmabs in 2 years. They’re a locally owned market, not a chain. The two brothers have been in the community for 30+ years.
ReplyDeleteOverpriced and under stocked…
DeleteBecause of their struggle- not enough cash flow to sustain inventory- doing the best they can. NYU is the landlord and although gave reasonable accommodations during Covid, when NYU bought the building, they got screwed and have been trying to survive since.
DeleteThey are not friendly at all and their stock is unbelievably suspect. I have purchased way too many rotten/expired items from there to ever go back. The prices are ludicrous as well. Delivery from west side market even with tip is less expensive.
DeleteWow, 2 years...hope I'm still alive!
ReplyDeleteI imagine they have to install all kinds of refrigeration and food prep areas, so that could take a lot of time. Maybe we'll get lucky and they can open sooner. It will be nice to have a real grocery in that area. Being on the subway line is convenient for a lot of people.
People really do grieve on this site. This is great news. Wegmans is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteSecond half 2023?! Why the long wait? Can’t they come sooner like Fall next year?
ReplyDeleteI am completely Wegmans ignorant. I guess I need to get out more.
ReplyDeleteKind of sad the most celebrated news for this hood is which grocery store chain is moving in next. Hopefully this will hurt Trader Bros and Whole Prudes a bit. At least Starbucks is on it’s way out.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you buy reasonably priced groceries…
DeleteYour response comes off as waxing but I think you meant a question so I will attempt to answer. I try to support local businesses/chains (I think Wegmans May fall in this category?).
Delete4th Street Food Co-op, C-Town, Key Foods, West side market, East Village Organic, weekly Green Markets (Farmers markets my favorite) etc...
I shop around based on where I’m headed and try to get the best deal so the money can go back into the community or the state. However since I’m shopping local I don’t always focus on the best deal.
I would not label Trader Bros and Whole Prudes as reasonably priced but that’s because I prefer to prepare my food as I don’t eat a lot of premade staples (That’s what dining out is for).
I also am not a fan of the Bezos-ization of the world so I try to avoid that. I think brand loyalty is a sad hobby. Manhattan is already expensive enough, I don’t know why I’d commit to making the rich even richer out of a minor convenience. Just my opinions, your mileage may vary.
The reason why Wegmans won’ be able to open for two years is because first they have to build a 10 foot wall around the entire East Village for flood protection.
ReplyDeleteOh no two years, but I'm already so bored with Trader Joe's...
ReplyDeleteUnless Wegman's hired an interior architect who's never seen a computer and only does pen and ink drawings had to believe this project could take 2 years in a fully finished building that requires no foundation or structural support work. Maybe they'll being sending the design plans for the shelving and millwork to a carpenter in Germany to get a really precise fit.
ReplyDeleteA Wegmans opened circa 1990 near the the SUNY Binghamton (NY) campus while I was a student there. It became the go-to place. It's nice to see my "Big Apple" hometown finally catch up with "The Carousel Capitol Of The World" :-)
ReplyDeleteIs anyone else not wowed by Wegmans? I’ve only been to one once, in Jersey - and the prepared foods we tried were underwhelming at best. I hope that was just an off day or something because they sound like they must be great. What in particular is good there?
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, grocery stores in NYC take time to build out.
ReplyDeleteCase Study 1: The Whole Foods that signed a lease at 63 Madison Ave in the summer of 2019 still isn't ready yet. https://commercialobserver.com/2019/08/whole-foods-market-lease-63-madison-avenue-george-comfort-sons-jamestown-loeb-partners-realty/
Case Study 2: The Trader Joe's that planned to take the Columbus Circle Whole Foods by surprise announced in spring 2019 hasn't started construction yet. The space is still empty with for lease signs. https://nypost.com/2019/03/11/trader-joes-looks-to-surprise-whole-foods-with-massive-midtown-lease/
My guess is that it will take two years to remove the linoleum smell that K-Mart left behind. I joke. It's a big space! that takes time people :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Glad to hear there will be a Wegmans in the East Village! Hopefully, it will open sooner than later!
ReplyDelete@9:56pm: I don't understand what you mean saying "NYU is the landlord". WHERE are you talking about? Please clarify.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the NYU flags on the building are just decorative lol? It’s a dorm. It says so on the door. NYU owns the building, so any space they rent out would make them the landlord.
DeleteI would prefer Wegmans over the New Yorker Market on 2nd Avenue!
ReplyDeleteToo far from my lower East side neighborhood to benefit me.
ReplyDeleteSad that so many people are excited to see another large suburban chain store destroy local businesses. Stop celebrating the demise of our neighborhood slowly turning into a big box Florida strip mall.
ReplyDeleteWal-Mart would have been a perfect store for that location.
ReplyDeleteFull size Wal-Mart would have been a blessing to middle class and low income families.
Supermarkets don’t excite me.
They are available every few blocks.
The moment that Walmart moves into Manhattan is the moment I leave the city.
ReplyDeleteThere are even more wal-marts outside the city ;)
DeleteI also missed the Wegman's hype. During my first visit in Bridgewater NJ, I kept looking around the store for the special section, with all the good stuff, that people kept telling me about. Never found it. The produce section, which I consider the most important section of any grocery, was thoroughly ordinary. I even tried the hot bar and a sub from the deli. Everything I had was merely edible, nothing special, even for a supermarket. As far as I know many supermarkets both chain and independent carry a wide selection of prepared hot foods.
ReplyDelete