Wasabi, the London-based sushi and bento chain led by Dong Hyun Kim, is planning to open its second New York City restaurant next March, as it eyes further expansion in the US.
The company, which opened its first New York City location in Times Square in February, will open at 7 Westfield World Trade Center and is also in negotiations to open at Manhattan’s downtown Fulton Street subway station.
“We’re very, very pleased to have a site in the World Trade Center,” Wasabi head of facilities Mark Lerego told Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN). “It’s a compliment to the gravitas of the company.”
According to NRN, consumers spend an average $8 in the New York location, compared with the £6.23, or $10.62, customers spent in the group’s 38 UK sites.
However, unlike the British locations, the New York unit has “a very strong evening trade,” Lerego said, noting that he has visited the Times Square unit at 8pm, “and there wasn’t a seat in the house”.
Earlier this year, the company, which was founded in 2003, increased its presence outside London with the opening of two sites in Leeds.
A further site in the redeveloped Lakeside food court is due to open this month.
