For now, Westhampton Beach has no full-service supermarket inside the village. Lidl's 29,118-square-foot store at 70 Sunset Avenue was the largest grocery store in the village, and Newsday described everything else in town as "several small markets." The most recent report on the closing, from Spark Hamptons, put Lidl's last day at the end of business on Oct. 11. That ended a five-year run at the chain's only Hamptons location.
A full-service grocer will come back to Sunset Avenue. Until it does, food shopping in the village runs on a specialty market, a deli and a farmers market that moves indoors for the winter. The big weekly cart now means driving Montauk Highway in one direction or the other. Here is how that works week to week this fall and winter.
A Building That Has Changed Grocers Before
The Sunset Avenue space has been through this several times. Lidl opened there in May 2021, replacing Best Market, which had earlier taken over the former Waldbaum's. According to Newsday, Lidl's lease ran out in March and the grocer got an extension to late October. Newsday's September report put the closing at the end of October. Spark Hamptons' later report moved it up to Oct. 11.
Cary Staller is president and co-owner of Staller Associates Realty, the firm representing the landlord. He gave Newsday the landlord's view of the exit: "I think they felt the market really wasn't right for them. It was sort of this upscale vacation market and it didn't fit in with their prototype." Lidl itself has not given a detailed public explanation, and the company says employees will be offered jobs at other Lidl stores.
That "upscale vacation market" description matters for what comes next. The grocery business that did arrive in the village this year was built around year-round, higher-end shopping.
The Year-Round Anchor on Montauk Highway
Citarella opened at 141 Montauk Highway in May 2026. It is the chain's fourth Hamptons store, after Southampton, Bridgehampton and East Hampton, and its eighth overall. It is open daily from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Owner Joe Gurrera told The Southampton Press that "locals have been asking us for a Westhampton Beach market for years." The company tore down the building it found and built a new one. The store carries fresh fish, prime meats with a dry-aging tower, sushi, prepared dishes, catering, a hot food bar and a bakery. It stays open through both the summer season and the rest of the year, and it added about 60 year-round jobs locally.
For a year-round household, Citarella covers the protein, the prepared dinner and the bakery stop seven days a week, in every season. Spark Hamptons noted that it remains to be seen whether the Sunset Avenue tenant will focus on everyday shopping, specialty foods or both. On Main Street, Goldberg's Famous Deli & Bagels at 65 Main Street handles the morning bagel and the sandwich run.
The Farmers Market Changes Venues, Not Seasons
This is the part of the grocery picture that never stops. The Westhampton Beach Chamber of Commerce runs its outdoor farmers market on the Village Green on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Chamber lists the outdoor season as running through late November, with more than 60 vendors, growers and producers. From late October, that leaves a handful of Saturdays on the Green.
Then it moves indoors. The Chamber's Holiday & Winter Market opens Saturday, Nov. 28, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 40 Main Street, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Holiday Market Saturdays run through Dec. 26, and the farmers' winter market continues on Saturdays through April 24, 2027. The Chamber lists handmade goods, specialty foods, baked items and farm vendors. It has not posted a winter vendor roster, and it asks prospective vendors to contact it directly.
Nov. 28 is also the night of the Chamber's Christmas Tree & Menorah Lighting on the Village Green, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Santa arrives in a parade of lights escorted by the Westhampton Beach Fire Department. That Saturday puts the morning market and the evening lighting a short walk apart on Main Street.
The farm stand closest to this routine is in Eastport. Olish Farms on Eastport Manor Road lists daily hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and fall and winter offerings, including vegetables, pies and holiday items.
Where the Full Cart Goes Now
Paper goods, cleaning supplies, cereal by the case and the rest of a household restock now mean a drive. The nearest full-service supermarkets sit along the same highway in both directions.
| Store | Address | Direction from the village |
|---|---|---|
| King Kullen | 52 East Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays | East |
| Stop & Shop | 194 West Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays | East |
| King Kullen | 552 Montauk Highway, Center Moriches | West |
| Stop & Shop | 1615 Old Country Road, Riverhead | North |
Hampton Bays has two of the four, which makes it the one stop where a household can compare both chains. The Center Moriches King Kullen is the westbound option.
The King Kullen name is also in transition. Long Island Business News reported in July that Giunta's Meat Farms would acquire the chain, and the deal closed in early October. It covers all 24 King Kullen supermarkets and four Wild by Nature stores. Long Island Wave reported that the companies did not plan store closures and will decide banners store by store. Founded in 1930 by Michael J. Cullen, King Kullen is widely recognized as America's first supermarket. Spark Hamptons noted that the companies will decide over the coming months which stores keep that name and which might become Giunta's Meat Farms. So the Hampton Bays or Center Moriches store may keep its address but change its sign.
What Is Known About 70 Sunset Avenue
Staller told Newsday that the space will get a full-service supermarket, and he withheld the tenant's name under a confidentiality agreement. As of Spark Hamptons' Oct. 8 report, the name was still confidential.
Two names have circulated anyway.
- Trader Joe's: A fabricated newspaper story with a doctored photo of a Trader Joe's sign on the Lidl building circulated on social media. Trader Joe's has said it has no confirmed plans for a Westhampton Beach location.
- Holiday Farms: Mentioned as a possible tenant. The company has neither confirmed nor denied it.
What can be said is that the space is about 29,000 square feet and that the landlord has called the incoming business a full-service supermarket. Whether it leans toward everyday shopping, specialty foods or both is still unknown. The village's grocery situation will stay as described here until the name and opening date are announced.
A Workable Week Until Then
- Saturday mornings: the Village Green farmers market through late November, then St. Mark's Episcopal Church at 40 Main Street from Nov. 28 through April 24, 2027.
- Any day, early or late: Citarella at 141 Montauk Highway, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., for fish, meat, prepared food and bakery items.
- Produce and holiday pies: Olish Farms on Eastport Manor Road, open daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- The household restock: King Kullen or Stop & Shop in Hampton Bays, King Kullen in Center Moriches, or Stop & Shop in Riverhead.
The Westhampton Beach Chamber of Commerce calendar is the place to check for winter market changes as vendors are confirmed.
Letticia Lettieri and William Carroll keep a running list of what's opening and closing in the village because those changes shape daily life here. If you own in or near Westhampton Beach and want to know how this fall's changes on Montauk Highway and Sunset Avenue fit into your home's value, The Hamptons Edge Team is happy to walk you through it. Get Your Free Home Valuation.
