Wegmans announces opening date for newest store, the first without a parking lot
Wegmans Food Markets has announced that its first Manhattan store — its second in New York City — will open at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18.
The Wegmans at 770 Broadway on a block in the East Village known as Astor Place will operate on two floors and cover 87,500 square feet.
Wegmans will share the building with Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, which leases several upper floors. Updates include new elevators and “cartalators” (escalators for grocery carts), ny.eater.com reported.
At street level, a Wegmans food hall will offer sushi, salads, sandwiches, soups, pizza, wings, hot Asian cuisine and made-to-order and packaged Mediterranean options.
An on-site dining room with a sushi bar and a bar serving Champagne and oysters will open during the first half of 2024, Wegmans said in a statement.
Eater reported that the sushi bar will fly in items from Toyosu Market in Tokyo.
Traditional departments — bakery, produce, meat, seafood, grocery, dairy and frozen foods — will be on the lower level.
Interior photos of the store provided by Wegmans show a Tuscan-inspired design and color scheme.
Six-hundred people will staff the store in the historic 15-story Wanamaker building, which is about a six-minute walk from Washington Square Park. Constructed in 1907 to house the Wanamaker department store, most recently it was home to a Kmart.
The Manhattan Wegmans will be the only store in the chain without parking, but it has direct access to the Astor Place subway stop, served by the 6 and 4 trains. Wegmans’ Brooklyn Navy Yard location, which opened in October 2019, has 700 parking spaces split between a surface lot and a ramp garage.
Wegmans now has 109 stores in eight East Coast states and the District of Columbia.
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Wegmans Manhattan store in Wannamaker building: Opening date announced
