Balducci’s planning a NYC comeback

After leaving New York City last year, the gourmet grocery chain Balducci’s is planning to make a comeback, scouting out several locations for small, quick-service stores, as well as for a 10,000-square-foot flagship store, Crain’s reported. Balducci’s, known for its selection of meats, cheeses and Italian delicacies, currently operates six locations in New York state, Connecticut, Virginia and Maryland, in addition to three quick-service shops at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Balducci’s closed its two last Manhattan locations in Chelsea and the Upper West Side in April 2009. The store also had an outpost on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village from 1972 to 2003. Starting this fall, it is planning to open as many as three small Midtown locations, ranging from 1,000 square feet to 2,000 square feet in size. For its larger flagship store, the chain is looking at “affluent, dense residential neighborhoods” such as the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side, said Jason Pruger of Newmark Knight Frank, who is representing Balducci’s, together with colleague Ross Kaplan. [Crain’s]