Wegmans denies East Village sushi shop's fraud suit, moves to dismiss case
NEW YORK (PIX11) – Wegmans is looking to have its name cleared after an East Village fish market owner implicated the grocery giant in an alleged scheme to defraud his business.
Wegmans claims it had no hand in the scheme alleged by Osakana owner Yuji Haraguchi, who filed a lawsuit in February that Wegmans is now attempting to have dismissed.
“We remain confident the lawsuit filed against us is without merit and have filed a motion to dismiss the complaint in its entirety,” a representative of Wegmans told PIX11.
Haraguchi sued Wegmans and a handful of other companies over the opening of a fish market in the grocery chain’s new Astor Place location dubbed “Sakanaya." He says the fish market is “confusingly similar,” as it shares a similar font, and name and is located just a few blocks from his St. Marks Place shop.
But Wegmans and the other companies claim they did not steal anything from Haraguchi.
Wegmans started developing a “unique concept for our seafood and sushi program” at the Astor Place location in 2022, and started work on Sakanaya in early 2023, according to a representative of the company.
“While both words contain the Japanese word for “fish” (sakana), that is where the similarity ends,” Wegmans’ lawyers wrote in their motion to dismiss the case.
The companies accused of stealing Haraguchi’s business concepts through a fraudulent sale — Culimer USA, Culinary Collaborations and Red Shell Sushi — took their rebuke of the allegations one step further and filed a counterclaim.
They say Haraguchi’s suit is “baseless and retaliatory,” and contradicts his recounting of a potential purchase of Osakana before the opening of Sakanaya. They’re looking to bar Haraguchi from “further misleading the public,” according to the companies’ lawyers at Gross Shuman.
“It is objectively obvious that this lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt by Mr. Haraguchi to unjustly enrich himself by smearing the defendants in the media and online,” said Gross Shuman attorney B. Kevin Burke Jr.
Haraguchi’s case has garnered public support. As of Monday, over 4,700 people had signed a Change.org petition asking Wegmans to cease operations at its fish market until the situation is rectified.
Haraguchi’s case has struck a nerve with many who say a large chain damaging a small business is all too familiar.
“My wife and I own a small business in NJ, employing 8 people full time. Something like this could easily happen to us, and I don't know how we could continue to run the business while fighting a large company in court,” Chris Zaic wrote on the petition.
Haraguchi said the counter-filing only furthers his belief that he’s been taken advantage of.
We, minority-owned small businesses, have the right to raise our voices and defend ourselves without fearing retaliation by giant corporate bullies. My personal experience with SAKANAYA by Wegmans is a testament to this struggle.
The counterclaims filed by the defendants do not justify their unethical, unfair, and dishonest practices against us. Instead, they further prove that such misconduct was indeed committed.
It only reveals the undeniable fact that, prior to signing an NDA and LOI, they concealed their intentions to open a direct competitor together with Wegmans against my business. This lack of transparency is the fundamental cause of this whole issue and it has resulted in unfair competition.
Yuji Haraguchi