A year after first estimates, Tokyo Central Market at the Bay Street Mall opened this morning, to a large crowd hoping to get in on opening day to do their food shopping. Emeryville police estimated the crowd to be 4000 people at its peak. Tokyo Central, a southern California based chain of 11 grocery stores with a Japanese twist, will compete against long established Berkeley Bowl, an independent grocer also with a Japanese twist. Tokyo Central benefits by being the new Japanese grocer despite its generally higher prices than Berkeley Bowl.
Higher prices didn’t seem to dampen interest though as shoppers waited in line for over an hour, a prospect an Emeryville police employee watching over the crowd characterized as ‘kind of crazy’.
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| At its peak, 4000 people queued up to shop. |
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| Because of the fire marshal, wait times to get in were in excess of one hour. |
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| Oranges were in high demand. |
Keeping in mind Yokyo Fish, Berkeley’s no gimmicks Japanese grocery store, established in 1963.
ReplyDeleteI dont know why people flock to store openings. will be nice to have something potentially reachable on foot from the east side and not having to drive to berkeley bowl. should be a big hit with amtrak passengers
ReplyDeleteThis article has big incel energy. Just let people have fun.
ReplyDeleteI waited for almost two hours to get in.
ReplyDeleteSure hope it is more accessible on normal weekdays! Today traffic was backed up in all directions including back up the freeway off ramp and back onto the freeway. EGR was off schedule all afternoon due to slow moving traffic. All well controlled though. It's very transit accessible and, while Berkeley Bowl sells Asian products this store is definitely Japanese throughout. Glad to have it. Good pix, I appreciate your coverage.
ReplyDeleteAt 2000 people in line to get in, many more of the 4000+ will need to come back at a later time.
ReplyDeleteSeattle has a large scaled Japanese market called Ujimaya located in its International District. It is easily the same size and scaling as Tokyo Market. Even though its been around for several continuous decades, and in my recent visit, it remains a super exciting place to be. With our wonderful weather here, there is no reason why this new store might be more fun the Seattle.