Wegmans is being hit with a lawsuit which contends that the fish market inside its newly opened Manhattan location is a knockoff of an East Village fish and sushi business called Osakana.
In a lawsuit filed this week in New York County Supreme Court, Osakana owner Yuji Haraguchi alleges that three companies shared his business secrets with Wegmans, resulting in an “uncanny and confusingly similar resemblance,” according to reporting from local news station PIX11. Haraguchi is seeking at least $1 million from the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Haraguchi alleges that three companies – Culimer USA, Red Shell Sushi, and Culinary Collaborations – gained knowledge of secrets related to his business via a potential sale and then brought those secrets to Wegmans, according to the claim filed Tuesday.
Located on Astor Place, a one-block street in the lower part of Manhattan, the 87,500-square-foot store opened its doors in October with a seafood concept called Sakanaya, an authentic Japanese-style fish market which has fresh fish delivered from the Toyosu Fish Market in Japan. The store also has an omakase experience (coursed sushi) which was a first for Wegmans.
The opening of Sakanaya came just months after Culimer USA, a business that ultimately played a large role in opening Wegmans’ fish market, had approached Haraguchi to buy his East Village spot, PIX11 reported.