H Mart opens in the former Rite Aid Space in Amsterdam

Manhattan’s West ’70s is the Gold Coast of grocery stores, with Fairway, Citarella and Trader Joe’s all within a stone’s throw of one another – and now another heavyweight has come into play: H Mart. (Thanks to Leo for the tip.)

We’re told a Korean-style outpost of the cult chain is moving to 210 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 69th and 70th Streets) to replace Rite Aid’s vacant storefront, which closed in November 2021 and has been since closed is last shop in the neighborhood.

ILTUWS has exclusively confirmed that the 9,412 square foot retail space was leased to H Mart a few months ago. An official opening date has not been announced, but we were given an estimate for “late summer” as “building a supermarket is a huge task”.

See more openings in the Upper West Side

Founded in Queens in 1982, the megamarket has envisioned a major expansion into the metropolitan area in recent years branches open in Flushing, Long Island City and East Rutherford, New Jersey since July 2022. They were last announced to have found new homes on the Upper East Side in January after buying a retail condo at 223 East 86th Street for $8.7 million (reportedly due to open within six months pending construction and improvements). The closest Manhattan location is currently a little further up at 2828 Broadway (and 110th Street) on the first floor of one University of Columbia residential house.

It’s safe to say that the love affair between New Yorkers and H Mart is genuine, as they’re regularly lauded for their unmissable selection of snacks, authentic Korean specialties, and (of course) an array of instant ramen options that consistently impress the competition.

H Mart has already been immortalized Crying in H Martthe 2021 memoir by indie-pop band Japanese Breakfast lead singer Michelle Zauner. The critically acclaimed book ran for a full 60 weeks The New York Times bestseller list.

H Mart’s annual sales are reported at $1.2 billion.

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