EXCLUSIVE: Butterfield Market Planning Big 'Lex'pansion

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A beloved Lexington Avenue specialty grocer is growing, set to take over a former flower shop next door, an owner shares with Patch.

Butterfield Market, whose Upper East Side roots can be traced back over 100 years, has signed a lease to expand their busy shop into the former home of a now-shuttered florist, said one of the family owners, Joelle Obsatz.

"It won't be as big as Madison," Obsatz said, referring to their second location that opened in 2020 on East 85th Street and is at least twice as big as the current size of their original store on Lexington Avenue and East 78th Street, "but it will get it it more up to par."

The new space will grow Butterfield's grocery footprint by over 30 percent, Obsatz says, and will allow the market to expand their offerings with a new espresso bar, more prepared foods, a sushi station, pressed sandwiches, more specialty baked goods and a larger appetizing and produce section.

And the local restaurant pop-ups that Butterfield hosts at the Madison Avenue location will also come to the expanded Lexington Avenue spot, like one they hosted with Nolita Italian spot Rubirosa just a few weeks ago.

"It's a two or three hour pop-up where people can come in and try a dish," Obsatz said of the tradition, which began during the pandemic as a way for restaurants to sell prepared or packaged food retail to say afloat.

"The pop-ups are really fun, and now we'll have the space to create more of the Madison Avenue vibe," she said.

"It will be pretty amazing when complete," Obsatz said.

Currently the new section is expected to open in Winter 2024, with only minor disruptions to the existing space in the meantime.