The big store at 70 Sunset Avenue has had four names in roughly ten years. It was a Waldbaum's until 2015, then a Best Market, then a Lidl. Holiday Farms comes next. Lidl closed on October 11, according to Spark Hamptons. Newsday said the closing cost Westhampton Beach its largest grocery store. A lease for the 29,118-square-foot space is already signed, and the new store is aiming to open in May.
This is the second time in six years the store has closed going into winter. The last time, it reopened in May 2021.
May keeps showing up at 70 Sunset Avenue
27east laid out the address's history when the Lidl news broke:
- 2015: Waldbaum's closes after A&P, its parent company, goes bankrupt.
- 2016: The space reopens as Best Market.
- 2018: Lidl US buys 27 Best Market stores in New York and New Jersey, and this one is among them.
- November 2020: Best Market Westhampton Beach closes.
- May 2021: The store reopens as a Lidl.
- October 2026: Lidl closes after a run of nearly five and a half years.
- May 2027: Holiday Farms' target opening.
The last gap ran from November to May. This one runs from October to May, so it's a few weeks longer and covers the same quiet months. Mayor Ralph Urban told 27east that operating a supermarket is hard in a village with a busy summer and a quiet off-season. In 2021 the store reopened in May, and Holiday Farms is aiming for the same month.
For year-round households, that means one more winter without a full-size supermarket inside the village. What's different from 2020 is the set of options around it.
What the village has that it didn't have in 2020
When Best Market closed, there was no Citarella in Westhampton Beach. Citarella opened at 141 Montauk Highway on Thursday, April 30, 2026. So this is the first winter the village has had a large fresh and prepared foods market of its own while the Sunset Avenue space sits empty.
Hours are worth checking before you go. Spark Hamptons announced daily hours of 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. during opening week. Citarella's store locator now lists the Westhampton store at 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily. If you're planning an early morning or late evening stop in January, call ahead.
Citarella does a lot of things well: meat, seafood, specialty products and prepared meals. But Spark Hamptons pointed out a difference between it and the store coming to Sunset Avenue. Holiday Farms will run as a traditional full-service supermarket, with familiar grocery brands, weekly specials and digital coupons. Until May, the everyday-staples part of the weekly list is the hardest part to cover in the village.
Saturday becomes the anchor of the week
The farm side of the week gets easier at the end of November, when the farmers market moves indoors.
The outdoor Westhampton Beach Farmers Market on the Village Green runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through November. On Saturday, November 28, the Greater Westhampton Chamber of Commerce opens its Holiday Market at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 40 Main Street. It runs every Saturday through December 26 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Alongside handmade goods and gifts, it has specialty foods, baked goods and a farmers' winter market that continues on Saturdays through April 24, 2027.
April 24 lands just a few weeks before Holiday Farms' May target. Between Citarella on Montauk Highway and the indoor market on Main Street, the village has a regular source of produce, bread and specialty food for almost the entire gap.
The vendor list for this season hasn't been published yet. For reference, last winter's market listing named Aki's Kitchen, Hamptons Preserves, Mecox Bay Dairy, Newlight Breadworks, South Fork Bakery, South Shore Mushrooms and Sweet Woodland Farms. That was the 2025–26 lineup, and this winter's could be different.
November 28 is also a good day to stay in the village. The Chamber's Christmas Tree & Menorah Lighting Celebration runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. that evening on the Village Green. It includes both lighting ceremonies, Santa, a fire department light parade, and hot chocolate and cookies. You can shop the market at St. Mark's in the morning and come back to the green that evening.
The Eastport and Hampton Bays loop
For a full-size supermarket, you'll need to leave the village this winter. The closest options are east in Hampton Bays and west in Eastport.
| Direction | Store | Address |
|---|---|---|
| West | King Kullen Eastport | 25 Eastport Manor Road, Eastport |
| West | Olish Farms Country Market and Bakery | 2 Eastport Manor Road, Eastport |
| East | King Kullen Hampton Bays | 52 East Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays |
| East | Stop & Shop Hampton Bays | 194 West Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays |
| Farther east | Stop & Shop Southampton | 167 Main Street, Southampton |
The Eastport stops are on the same road. The King Kullen at 25 Eastport Manor Road and Olish Farms at 2 Eastport Manor Road make an easy two-stop trip: supermarket staples at one, farm market and bakery at the other. Olish Farms' website lists daily hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and fall and winter items including pies, baked goods and seasonal produce. The site isn't dated, so confirm hours before a holiday trip.
To the east, the Stop & Shop in Hampton Bays lists produce, dairy, meat, deli and prepared foods departments. Hampton Bays also has a King Kullen, so if one store is out of something, another full-size option is nearby.
The King Kullen stores could change this winter. Patch reported on October 3 that Giunta's Meat Farms had finished buying King Kullen. The deal covers all 24 King Kullen supermarkets and four Wild by Nature markets on Long Island. The companies said they have no current plans to close any stores. In the coming months they'll decide which stores keep the King Kullen name and which switch to the Giunta's Meat Farms name. The Eastport or Hampton Bays store may have a new sign by spring.
Main Street and East Quogue cover seafood and meat
A few independent shops close to the village cover seafood and meat.
On Main Street, 27east listed Haskell's Seafood Market and Café at 77 Main Street as a daily seafood market open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Winter hours can be different, so call before you plan dinner around it.
A short drive east, Sonny's Prime Village Meat Shoppe at 495 Montauk Highway in East Quogue describes itself as a butcher, grocer and prepared-food shop that also carries breads and specialty foods. Its website lists hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. If those hours hold, it's closed Mondays, so plan around that if you're shopping for Thanksgiving.
For the holiday meal itself, Ivy On Main at 103 Main Street is promoting Thanksgiving dinners and private holiday gatherings in an October 20 post. The post doesn't give Thanksgiving service times, so ask about those when you book.
With these spots, the Saturday market and Citarella, you can cover most of a winter week without leaving the Westhampton area. The trip to Eastport or Hampton Bays is mainly for the big pantry restock.
What May brings to Sunset Avenue
Holiday Farms is a family-owned Long Island chain with three stores, all in Nassau County: Roslyn Heights, Franklin Square and Glen Head. Westhampton Beach will be its first location in Suffolk. According to Spark Hamptons, the plan is a full-service market with produce, meat and seafood departments, a bakery, a deli, a commercial kitchen, grab-and-go meals, and soup and sushi bars. The chain also offers home delivery, pickup and catering all year. Its promotions include a 5% senior discount on Tuesdays.
Operator David Mandell, who also runs a Locust Valley Market and two Key Food stores in Queens, explained his thinking to Newsday:
"I think it's a good opportunity for us. I think it's the right clientele. I think it's going to be a good location ... similar to what we do in Holiday Farms in Roslyn and Glen Head."
Before the lease was announced, people speculated on social media and hoped for a Trader Joe's, Patch reported. What's coming is a full-service supermarket, a broader format than the limited-assortment, private-label model Lidl used at this address.
Until then, Main Street has more to offer before the year ends. The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center's Holiday Stroll takes over Main Street on Thursday, December 3, from 6 to 9 p.m., with shopping, refreshments, live music and caroling. The indoor market at St. Mark's will have been open for less than a week by then, and Citarella is a few blocks away.
A new full-service supermarket on Sunset Avenue could matter to people selling homes near the village center next spring. If you're considering a sale around Holiday Farms' opening, The Connelly Team can show you how nearby homes have priced through Westhampton Beach's off-season and summer cycles. Request your free home valuation and we'll go through the numbers with you.
