Japanese Grocery Chain Yamadaya Opening Upper East Side Store

Just months after a popular Japanese market signed a lease near East 93rd Street, a second Japanese grocery chain has quietly added an Upper East Side address to its expansion plans — its fourth location in New York City, with an opening targeted for later this summer.

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The chain is called Yamadaya, and the store will be opening at 1279 Third Avenue at the corner of 74th Street. The address is now listed on the company’s website as one of two new outposts coming this summer, alongside a separate Murray Hill location at 476 Third Avenue.

Yamadaya currently operates stores at 450 Sixth Avenue (at West 11th Street) and 224 Fifth Avenue (at West 27th Street). Both have built a following for their selection of authentic Japanese pantry staples, frozen foods, snacks, fresh sushi, imported teas, and beauty and household goods from Japan. Shoppers can typically find items like yuzu mochi, specialty Kit Kat flavors, Kewpie mayo, matcha, Japanese kitchenware, and Japanese cosmetics — most of it hard to track down at a standard New York supermarket.

 

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The chain hasn’t said much publicly about its expansion beyond the address listings on its website, which itself is in the middle of a redesign. A “new website is on its way” message currently sits front and center on the homepage in both English and Japanese.

The new opening continues a busy year for Japanese specialty retail on the Upper East Side. As we reported back in March, Hashi Market — another popular Japanese grocery chain with locations across the city — is opening a 3,700-square-foot store at 1801 Second Avenue at East 93rd Street, its first in the neighborhood.

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With Yamadaya now joining the mix further south on Third Avenue, the Upper East Side is on track to add two new Japanese grocery options before the end of the year.

Yamadaya has not announced a specific opening date for the Third Avenue store, only that it’s targeting summer. We’ll provide updates when we know more. You can also follow them at @yamadayany.

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