New Carfagna’s Polaris location to feature expanded market, restaurant capacity
Very soon, there will be a lot more Carfagna’s to love.
This spring, both Carfagna’s Italian Market (1405 E. Dublin Granville Rd.) and Kitchen (2025 Polaris Pkwy.) will be relocating to a massive 27,000 square-foot location at 1440 Gemini Pl. in Polaris. Carfgana’s Famous Market & Ristorante will feature an expanded Italian market, a restaurant with greater seating capacity, a bakery, a high-end liquor store, a full-service bar, and even culinary classes.
Carfagna’s director of marketing and advertising Sal Carfagna said they’ve been working on the move for the better part of a decade.
“This was already in motion before COVID happened—and we would already be there now if it wasn’t for COVID,” he said. “There have been times where we’ve thought about whether or not it’s the right thing to do in a pandemic, but in the long run it’s going to let us take better and safer care of our customers. We’ll be able to offer the no-contact, curbside services that the larger chains do.”
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One of the issues preventing this at the current market location, Sal says, is space.
“There just isn’t enough room right now; there’s not enough parking.”
And even though the new Carfagna’s will offer more room for shoppers and diners, this Polaris update will bring about much more than additional elbow room.
Carfagna said the new location will usher in the era of “experiential” shopping for customers. While the market’s current cheesemongers and pasta-makers currently operate out of customers’ view, the Gemini Place location will allow them to offer expertise as well as tasting samples to shoppers.
“Retail has turned into an experiential shopping thing; people want to be entertained,” Carfagna said. “We want to do that, and now soon we’ll have the ability to do that.”
The new site will offer education as well as entertainment. An onsite-classroom will give patrons the opportunity to learn how to make their favorite Carfagna’s dishes and products.
“You can make that a date night or a birthday idea, or just a fun night out with friends,” Carfagna said.
In addition to a boutique liquor store and wine-tasting room, the new location will offer customers a full-service bar, a barista serving traditional Italian espresso drinks, a bakery section, and even housemade gelato. Part of the building will feature an indoor piazza, mimicking the public marketplace squares of Italy, and even a “farmer’s market” section for fresh produce, similar to the fruit and vegetable stands on display outside of the Dublin location.
And while the massive new Carfagna’s combination location is bringing about a host of new, modern changes, Sal Carfagna says there’s at least one thing that won’t change much: the market’s iconic meat department.
“Our meat department, we’re transplanting the look and feel of it to Gemini. We want to bring it there, but we don’t want to lose that nostalgia so many of our customers love,” he said.
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