Amazon-owned Whole Foods is planning its first Ridgewood store at 55-60 Myrtle Avenue (between Putnam Avenue and Cornelia Street), taking over a former Beaux-Arts bank building with about 28,000 square feet on a 15-year lease, according to Crain’s. It’s the second Whole Foods scheduled for Queens, with the other on track for Long Island City in 2028. No word yet on when the Ridgewood store will open. A spokesperson for the developer, Norse Realty, confirmed to Crain’s that the lease has been signed but didn’t comment further. Whole Foods is associated with gentrification and has been expanding in areas where stores already exist, with the smaller, clunky-named Whole Foods Market Daily Shop. Hoboken’s nearly 5,000 square-foot store is opening on Thursday, December 18, while a nearly 8,000 square-foot one in Williamsburg debuts in early 2026. Three locations of the smaller stores are open in Manhattan.
Another bakery slated for the East Village
A new Eastern European restaurant will debut next month
Gusi is opening in Greenwich Village from Boris Artemyev and Elena Melnikova at 432 Sixth Avenue, at West 10th Street. The menu will include several variations on borscht (duck, porcini), as well as pierogies (buffalo, goose, beef, pork, and veal). The two-story restaurant will also have a cocktail bar with nostalgia-inspired drinks and a selection of natural wines. Gusi will serve dinner weekdays, and will open all day on weekends.