Wegmans fans in New York City: Get excited, the newest store is just over a week from opening.
The beloved grocery store chain announced its much-anticipated Manhattan location is set to open at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 18. The 87,500 square-foot store will open in the lower levels of 770 Broadway at the corner of Astor Place and Lafayette Street, in Greenwich Village.
"We know our customers can’t wait to come see what we have in store and our employees have been training, in some cases, for over a year to get ready for this day,” said store manager Matt Dailor. "Wegmans is a celebration of food and people, and we can’t wait to open the doors on October 18 to our community."
The chain said that it hired more than 600 workers for the new location, inside the historic Wannamaker Building. It will take the place of the former Astor Place Kmart. The store's entrance will be on Lafayette between 8th and 9th streets. Wegmans said the majority of employees were hired locally.
The store said that it will offer "made-to-order and packaged Mezze options, inspired by a Mediterranean diet." In addition to grocery options, there will also be "fresh sushi, fresh-made salads, sandwiches, hot sandwiches, soups, pizza, and wings, as well as hot Asian cuisine options."
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
The seafood department will feature fish delivered from east coast and U.S. ports as well as being flown in several times a week from the Toyosu Fish Market in Japan.
While the grocery store portion will open in October, an on-site dining room — complete with a sushi bar as well as a champagne and oyster bar, is slated to open some time in the first half of 2024.
Wegmans, which already operates one location in Brooklyn that opened in 2019, consistently lands in industry top-10 lists, including a #2 ranking in a recent Food & Wine's list of America's best grocery stores. It also has been named to Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list for 26 years in a row, ranking fourth in 2023.
