A Zanotto’s Family Market in Sunnyvale is finally open after years of anticipation.
The supermarket at 1356 S. Mary Ave. had its soft opening the morning of April 15.
Zanotto’s Market partner, Troy Tibbils, said store owners and residents were excited to see the doors open.
“We opened the doors just as soon as we were legally allowed to,” he said. “The last building inspection was at 9:20 a.m., and we opened our doors about 20 minutes after that.”
Tibbils said he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout.
“It was called a soft opening, but it wasn’t that quiet; it was actually pretty busy,” he said. “There’s always the pressure of wondering if anybody’s going to come; we got past that. We were very happy with the turnout.”
Zanotto’s Willow Glen store had more than a thousand people show up for its opening in 2010, according to Tibbils.
The Sunnyvale location was originally supposed to open in summer 2014 but was delayed because of needed infrastructure improvements and unforeseen paperwork. Improvements that needed to be done involved piping, reinforcements and some PG&E-focused improvements. The building was previously vacant for 15 years.
The market will hold an official grand opening celebration on June 6.
“On that day we’ll try to get as many of the city dignitaries that we can and obviously vendors and samples for a good celebration to showcase product,” he said. “We’re expecting a pretty good turnout.”
Residents are responding positively to the new neighborhood addition, Tibbils said.
“Most of the feedback that we got was positive–how nice the store looks and how happy people are to have a store like Zanotto’s in the neighborhood,” he said.
In the last 60 years, the building was the site of an orchard, an Alpha Beta Market and a Lucky’s supermarket.
Consumers can expect products similar to the other two Zanotto’s Markets located in San Jose, which include soups, sandwiches, deli meats, seafood, more than 30 varieties of handmade salads, and a wide selection of beer and wine. Zanotto’s also features a specialty called Piedmontese beef.
The deli immediately was a draw at the market, with some items selling out the first day.
“We had anticipated that it would take awhile for the deli to build it’s reputation in Sunnyvale,” he said. “It’s actually the opposite; about 25 percent of our sales were from the deli.”
Tibbils said customers basically bought out all the items in the deli, including tortilla chips, “grab and go” meals, salsas, hummus and brownies.
The market also has outdoor seating for eating and drinking,
For more information on Zanotto’s visit zanottos.com.
