Italian Specialty Grocer Eataly Said Planning to Open NYC Store
NEW YORK -- Eataly, the high-concept food retailer with a 30,000-square-foot location in Turin, Italy, reportedly plans to open a store in New York City next spring. The store will open in a two-level, 10,000-square-foot space in the new Centria building at 18 West 48th Street.
Oscar Farinetti, the man behind the Eataly concept, told The New York Times that the goal of the new location is to "stupefy New Yorkers and firmly establish the Eataly brand on the very highest level." Farinetti also plans to open a full-scale replica of the Turin store in Manhattan's meatpacking district in 2011 at a site he says he has already secured.
"Eataly's goal," noted Farinetti, "is to make high-quality Italian foods available to everyone, at sustainable prices and in an informal environment where they can shop, taste, and learn."
After the New York site debuts, further stores are slated for major cities across Italy. According to the Eataly Web site, one location will be in Genoa. Eataly is also opening a store in Milan.
As well as being smaller, the Midtown store will be more expensive and more selective than the Turin prototype. Among the features will be a wood-burning bread oven, fresh beef from a herd of Piedmontese cattle in New Jersey, and locally grown vegetables, with all other items imported from Italy. However, due to space limitations and federal restrictions on some food imports, the offering will be much smaller than in the Turin store.
Additionally, instead of 10 in-store restaurants, the New York location will have just two, one devoted to pasta dishes, and the other to meat. Unlike the Eataly Turin restaurants, these eateries will serve food all day and provide takeout meals.
Oscar Farinetti, the man behind the Eataly concept, told The New York Times that the goal of the new location is to "stupefy New Yorkers and firmly establish the Eataly brand on the very highest level." Farinetti also plans to open a full-scale replica of the Turin store in Manhattan's meatpacking district in 2011 at a site he says he has already secured.
"Eataly's goal," noted Farinetti, "is to make high-quality Italian foods available to everyone, at sustainable prices and in an informal environment where they can shop, taste, and learn."
After the New York site debuts, further stores are slated for major cities across Italy. According to the Eataly Web site, one location will be in Genoa. Eataly is also opening a store in Milan.
As well as being smaller, the Midtown store will be more expensive and more selective than the Turin prototype. Among the features will be a wood-burning bread oven, fresh beef from a herd of Piedmontese cattle in New Jersey, and locally grown vegetables, with all other items imported from Italy. However, due to space limitations and federal restrictions on some food imports, the offering will be much smaller than in the Turin store.
Additionally, instead of 10 in-store restaurants, the New York location will have just two, one devoted to pasta dishes, and the other to meat. Unlike the Eataly Turin restaurants, these eateries will serve food all day and provide takeout meals.