New UES Whole Foods Details: Third Ave To Be New, Small-Format Store

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — It's a whole new format.

The rumored replacement grocer taking over the former Food Emporium at East 69th Street and Third Avenue is not just a new Whole Foods.

It will also be the debut store of a new, small-format urban "quick-shop" store, the company announced Tuesday.

Dubbed Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, the new format store is a new, smaller, convenience-forward concept ranging in size from 7,000 to 14,000 square feet — a mere thumbnail of their two nearby grocery stores, at East 57th and 86th streets, both sized at roughly 40,000 square feet — according to a press release.

The exact size of the new Upper East Side store is not mentioned, nor if the new Whole Foods will be taking over both the ground floor and lower-level spaces the former Food Emporium occupied at 1175 Third Ave.

According to one listing, the 13,000-square-foot lower level is still available, while the 9,000-square-foot ground floor is described as having "great retail coming soon."

The smaller store will still offer basic foodstuffs like produce, meat, seafood, snacks, breads, alcohol and a range of prepared and pre-packed meals, including sandwiches.

Lenox Hill residents will also be the first New Yorkers to experience the brand's cafe, called Juice & Java, which offers coffee, tea, fresh juice, smoothies, sandwiches, soups and desserts.

Whole Foods currently has 17 stores in New York City — the latest opened last year on Wall Street — and the new small-store format should lead to new locations popping up around the city, the company said.

Customers can expect the new store to open sometime this year, the press release reads, but no specific date was formally announced.