Fuji Mart Plots Expansion to Virginia, Rhode Island
Fuji Mart Corp., which operates a chain of seven Japanese grocery stores in the Northeast, is planning to expand to two new markets this year.
The Stamford, Connecticut-based company is planning to open a store in Providence, Rhode Island, this spring, and another in Tysons, Virginia, by year-end. The 18,444-square-foot Tysons store will be the company’s largest location and its first under the Marufuji Japanese Market banner. Its other stores include five Maruichi Japanese Food & Deli locations, and two operating under the Maruichi Select banner, scattered from Princeton, New Jersey, to the Boston area.
The new store in Tysons will also be its farthest afield, about 200 miles from the store the company opened last year in Princeton.
The retailer describes its Maruichi Japanese Food & Deli banner as a “Japanese grocery store with sashimi grade fish, bento, sushi and other fun stuff,” while Maruichi Select stores offer a curated assortment of food and gift products from Japan, as well as Japanese sake, local beer, bento, sushi, baked goods, and more.
According to a report in FFXnow.com, which covers local news in Fairfax County, Virginia, the Marufuji Japanese Market in Tysons will offer an extensive selection of Japanese groceries, including fresh produce, specialty snacks, pantry staples, a delicatessen, sashimi, Japanese and American Wagyu beef, and select items that are not available elsewhere in the U.S.
The Providence store, which will operate under the Maruichi Japanese Food & Deli banner, will offer “a full range of Japanese groceries, sushi-grade fish, Japanese cuts of meat, and prepared foods including onigiri, sushi and sashimi, bento boxes, seaweed salads, and other dishes from Japan,” according to local developer Cornish Associates.
“The store will also host celebrations of Japanese culture throughout the year, highlighting choice imports such as sashimi from Tokyo’s famous Toyosu Market and Miyazaki Wagyu beef,” the developer said.
“Maruichi is all about bringing the experience of shopping in Japan to American customers,” said Joshua Nakama, vice president of Fuji Mart Corp., in a statement on Cornish Associates’ website. “We’re constantly searching for curious communities that are eager for our unique brand of authenticity and accessibility.”
Fuji Mart confirmed on its website that the stores in Tysons and Providence are planned. A spokesperson could not be reached for further comment.
Fuji Mart Corp. was founded in 1991 in Greenwich, Connecticut, and was acquired by its current ownership in 2013. It has since added two additional locations in Connecticut (in Stamford and West Hartford), three in Massachusetts (two in Brookline and one in Arlington), and one in Princeton.
“Fuji Mart Corp. is a company for foodies, by foodies,” according to the company's website.