At the reopening of the Sakanaya at Wegmans

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

After three months of expanding the seafood department, the Wegmans outpost on Astor Place recently hosted its first tuna cutting in the new Sakanaya. 

The store, the first in Manhattan, opened last October. 

"As we continue to focus on best serving our customers in Manhattan, the decision was made to reconfigure the space to provide a more interactive experience for customers," a store rep told us via email. 

Here's a look at the Sept. 22 event ...

Chairman Danny Wegman, a third-generation family member who joined the business in 1964, was present with his wife Paula Kerr-Jarrett and Yuko Kishida, the spouse of the now-former Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida.

The live tuna cutting demonstrations happen at this Wegmans on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. ...

Read more about the fish market here. 

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

A scene from the opening day at Wegmans on Astor Place... the grocer's first Manhattan outpost. (More background here and here.) 

The store opened at 9 a.m. Per EVG reader Jeanne Krier: "The line, at 8:30, snaked up the block, around the corner and halfway down 9th. There was cheering, applause, selfies, videos, smiles all around."

A last look inside Wegmans before its grand opening on Astor Place this Wednesday

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Wegmans makes its Manhattan debut this Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. on Astor Place. 

Ahead of the big day, Wegmans officials invited me inside for another look as the 87,500-square-foot space comes together for opening day at the landmarked 770 Broadway...

As previously noted, the ground floor will feature the prepared foods ready to eat or heat, and a market offering in-store-made soups, salads, pizza, a mezze station, sandwiches, an Asian foods station with woks and chefs, a bakery, and a flower shop...

There is even a misting cheese cave area. (MISTING CHEESE!)

This past Thursday, the two-level space was teeming with new employees going through a test run... with staff sampling some of the offerings that Wegmans has...

The ground-floor showstopper might be the Japanese sakanaya (fish market), featuring twice-weekly deliveries from Japan.

Wegmans staffer Adrian shows the variety of cuts that Wegmans will offer...

The lower level features the vast grocery aisles ...

... there also looks to be a solid beer selection...

... including an only-at-this-location Astor Place IPA...

See you Wednesday...

Our previous post (see link below) has more details on the space, the home of Kmart for 25 years until July 2021. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• First look inside the Astor Place Wegmans, set to open on Oct. 18 at 9 a.m. (July 27)

[Updated] The Wegmans signage has arrived on Astor Place

The Wegmans signage rolled up today (in the back of a truck) here on Astor Place. (Thanks to William Klayer for the photo!)

The doors open here on Oct. 18, a date made public over the summer. 

As previously noted, the 87,500-square-foot space at the landmarked 770 Broadway is the first Manhattan outpost for the grocer. 

EVG's Stacie Joy received a tour of the two-level supermarket back in July. You can revisit that post here.

Updated 

And by the end of the day, the first sign was up... pic by Stacie Joy...

5 weeks (or so) until the Wegmans at Astor Place opens

Several EVG readers noted the recent arrival of signage at the incoming Wegmans on Astor Place noting that doors open here on Oct. 18, a date made public over the summer. 

As previously noted, the 87,500-square foot space at the landmarked 770 Broadway is the first Manhattan outpost for the grocer. 

EVG's Stacie Joy received a tour of the two-level supermarket back in July. You can revisit that post here.

First look inside the Astor Place Wegmans, set to open on Oct. 18 at 9 a.m.

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The Wegmans at Astor Place — the grocer's first Manhattan outpost and No. 110 overall — will open on Oct. 18 at 9 a.m. 

Yesterday, store officials provided EVG with a tour of the under-construction 87,500-square foot space at the landmarked 770 Broadway. 

This retail space was previously Kmart, which closed after 25 years in July 2021. (Wegmans had agreed to buy out the fading retailer's lease to make this 30-year deal possible.)

A note before going inside... the former Kmart entrance on Eighth Street at Lafayette will be for the onsite restaurant, featuring a sushi bar and champagne-oyster bar set to open in the first half of 2024. 

The grocery entrance is on Lafayette between Eighth Street and Ninth Street. Now that we explained that... here we go...

The ground floor will feature the prepared foods ready to eat or heat, and a market — the architect told me they were going for a "village concept feel" — including items familiar to Wegmaniacs, such as the in-store-made soups, salads, sushi (the star of the show), pizza, mezze station, sandwiches, an Asian foods station with woks and chefs, bakery, and a floral station, etc.

The space is enormous; you'd never guess you were in the former Kmart. The grocery is full of warm tones, muted creams, yellows, browns...

Also on the ground level: 31 self-checkout stations and seven staffed checkouts (management expects a high volume of customers here, hence the 600 newly hired employees)...

You can only check out on the main floor, so even if you shop on the lower level, where the grocery store will be, you still have to pay upstairs. 

However, there are new escalators here with easy cart transport...

The lower level has the grocery items.

Upon opening, there won't be any wine or spirits for sale in the store, though they will have a beer section.

Also! You cannot access the store from the 6 train, and vice versa, like in the old Kmart days. The turnstiles are still there, but they are blocked off. 

And Wegmans will just have the main and lower levels. (Kmart gave up the second floor back in 2018, presumably in use by Wannamaker building tenant Meta/Facebook.) 

Finally, if you want to get a headstart on the Wegmans experience, you can download the store app and create an online account. Otherwise, see you in October...

Wegmans watch on Astor Place

As you likely noticed in the past few weeks, the landmarked 770 Broadway at Eighth Street/Lafayette is behind a layer of plywood...

...with a plywood rendering, which looks exactly like the current building...

Gut renovations continue inside the retail space on the NW corner of Eighth Street at Lafayette ... which will be the first Manhattan outpost of Wegmans. (The one in Brooklyn opened in 2019.) 

Wegmans will occupy space on both the street and lower levels of No. 770 for a total of roughly 82,000 square feet. The grocery is reportedly set to open in the second half of 2023. (Published reports state that Wegmans plans to employ more than 500 people at this store, including 200 full-time positions.) 

And a look through the blogger portals provides the current state of reconstruction affairs here ... 

As previously reported, Kmart closed in this space after 25 years in July 2021. Wegmans had agreed to buy out the fading retailer's lease to make this deal possible.