Trendy Japanese grocery chain opens first West Coast store with cheap sushi

The Bay Area’s latest grocery obsession is rolling into Silicon Valley — and night owls with a taste for sushi have a particularly delicious reason to celebrate.

Hashi Market, a New York City-founded Japanese supermarket chain, is opening its first brand-new West Coast location in Cupertino on Friday, bringing shelves of imported snacks, premium seafood, luxury melons and freshly made sushi marked down for late-night shoppers.

The 20,000-square-foot market at 20558 Stevens Creek Blvd. opens at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9, inside a former Sprouts location. It will operate daily from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., with a tempting twist for bargain hunters: all sushi gets a 30% discount after 8 p.m.

That means shoppers can load up on nigiri and rolls without paying full price — provided they’re willing to wait until the evening.

The store is also stocked with bento boxes, onigiri, teriyaki skewers, katsu curry and baked salmon, alongside housemade sausage buns and cheese breads. Shoppers can browse Japanese cosmetics, home goods and pop-culture merchandise, too.

“When you walk in it feels more like a younger store, like an Erewhon,” Hashi operations director Justin Li told the San Francisco Chronicle, comparing the supermarket to the Los Angeles-based luxury grocer famous for its pricey products and Instagram-friendly smoothies.

But the real treasure hunt may be in the aisles of Japanese sweets.

Li told KRON4 that his favorite spot is the market’s Hokkaido section, dedicated to treats from the northern Japanese island known for its dairy products and chocolate. Among the offerings is ROYCE Chocolate, a personal favorite.

“Definitely the Hokkaido section. I grew up on ROYCE Chocolate, like that’s my thing. Any of the chocolates are good. If it’s not good, you can find me,” Li said with a chuckle.

Other eye-catching offerings include premium sake, sushi-grade fish and crown melons.

Cupertino was a calculated choice for the company, which Li told the Chronicle was drawn to the city’s affluent, heavily Asian population and established appetite for Japanese food.

“Cupertino has a profile that we target,” Li said. “There is a culture of sushi there and H Mart and T&T Market also opened relatively close, in San Jose.”

Hashi is joining a growing grocery-store gold rush across the Bay Area. Tokyo Central opened in Emeryville in January, while Korean grocer H Mart arrived in Dublin in March. Canadian Asian supermarket giant T&T also drew crowds when it opened in San Jose this summer.

Founded in 2024, Hashi has grown to six New York City locations and is planning an ambitious expansion beyond California.

“We’re expecting to roll out 10 more stores by early 2027,” Li told the Chronicle, citing planned locations in Colorado, Massachusetts and Washington state.

Friday’s grand opening will feature a ribbon-cutting and giveaways for guests throughout the weekend.

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