There has long been a comparison between the major cities on both coasts of the U.S., but one that’s taken hold more recently is the battle between grocery stores and gourmet markets. Consumers have their favorite chains, but from a regional perspective, the conversation often turns into which coast has better concepts.
More recently, the narratives of larger grocery chains have been about providing value, both inherent and price-oriented, to consumers. However, it can be easy to forget that specialty markets not only exist but have continued to grow despite higher prices. As evidenced by Sprouts Farmers Market, even larger specialty chains have done a good job of avoiding the pitfalls of consumer demand changes.
One name that often comes up in this debate is Citarella Gourmet Market, located in the New York City metro area. This chain holds a special place in their shoppers’ hearts; its value comes from experience and quality of product selection instead of focusing on value. If anything, Citarella is often seen as the antithesis of a value driven retailer due to its high prices and elevated items. Many consumers see the stores as an East Coast counterpart to a chain like Erewhon, located in Los Angeles, and it has a feeling that is distinctly New York. And looking at Placer’s foot traffic estimates, in 2024 visitation to the chain is up almost 12% year-over-year.
The store is known for its selection of prepared food offerings, which has helped it garner its cult following. Similar to Erewhon, there is a fascination with the brand by consumers, many of whom make a special pilgrimage to visit a location in New York City or the Hamptons. The rise in popularity of the Hamptons has certainly benefited the stores; the Village of East Hampton, which has a Citarella location, saw visits increase by 5% in June-August compared to last year according to our data.
By being a market that specializes in prepared foods instead of traditional grocery items, visitation to the store is more spread out during the day, instead of consumers visiting more frequently before or after work.
With more locations centered in a vacation destination, we also see a higher percentage of visits Friday-Sunday as opposed to during the work week.
Specialty grocers have thrived in part due to their higher-income shoppers, which has allowed them to perform well despite inflation, and certainly makes them an outlier in the larger grocery sector. Citarella’s median household income is almost double that of the U.S. average, so we shouldn’t neglect value-oriented grocery as a concept that is winning with most consumers.
But, at a time when so much industry focused is centered around value, seeing retailers excel in experience and differentiation is refreshing. And Citarella may just be a stop on visitor’s NYC bucket-lists in the future.
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