Arizona
Japanese grocery store opening 1st Arizona location. What to know
Taiwanese restaurants serving TSMC workers in Phoenix
The north Phoenix area now boasts three Taiwanese restaurants, opened within the last year specifically to cater to new arrivals at the TSMC factory.
The Republic
A specialty Japanese grocery store will open its first location outside of California in north Phoenix.
In November 2026, Osaka Marketplace will move into the shopping plaza at the intersection of Union Hills Drive and Seventh Street and begin construction, said Julia Li, the plaza’s property manager.
Founded in the Bay Area in 2021, Osaka Marketplace specializes in Japanese ingredients and prepared food. The 35,000-square-foot space will feature a fresh produce section, a sushi counter and a food court. The grocery store is expected to open in the second half of 2027.
“We’re really excited,” Li said. “They’re great.”
What is Osaka Marketplace?
Osaka Marketplace has two locations in the Bay Area, with plans to open a third in fall 2026. Founder Kazuhiro Takeda, a former grocery executive in Japan, has said that he wants the store to feel like “a small trip to Japan.”
Osaka Marketplace is especially known for its sushi. It imports fish from Japan and offers a wide variety of sashimi, including salmon, scallops and squid. In addition to a food court with several restaurants, the Phoenix store will also sell bento boxes, Japanese sandwiches and onigiri.
The Bay Area locations host community events, such as a pop-up ramen festival, which was a major draw for bringing Osaka Marketplace to Arizona, Li said.
“It makes it feel like a part of the community and not just somewhere that you go to get groceries,” Li said.
There are several other Japanese-focused grocers in the Valley, like New Tokyo Food Market in Phoenix and Fujiya Market in Tempe, but none are nearly as large as Osaka Marketplace will be.
More Asian businesses are opening to serve TSMC workers
Fueled by the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company facilities, the boom of Asian-focused development in north Phoenix has been quietly gaining steam over the past few years.
Small mom-and-pop restaurants have been followed by larger regional and national chains, like Paris Baguette and 85°C Bakery Cafe. One of the largest planned projects will partially remake Arrowhead Towne Center, with the opening of a Taiwanese grocery store, 99 Ranch, in a former Sears building.
Since 2023, Li has been working with her parents, who are developers, to fill the shopping plaza on Union Hills Drive with businesses that cater to Asian customers. The plaza already has a smattering of Asian restaurants and businesses, including a Taiwanese restaurant and a Chinese-English after-school academy, but the main storefront has remained a Goodwill.
It took them longer than expected to find a business to replace the Goodwill, Li said. Despite the growth of Asian development, many out-of-state companies don’t see Phoenix as a promising market, Li said.
“Convincing businesses from outside of Phoenix has been really, really difficult,” Li said.
The family was connected to Osaka Marketplace through word of mouth and found out that the grocery store was already interested in moving to Phoenix. Takeda has said he hopes to open a dozen Osaka Marketplaces in the next 10 years.
Cultivating a north Phoenix hub for Asian food and culture
Now that the plaza has an anchor tenant, it’s on its way to becoming the type of “cultural meeting center” that Li’s family hopes to create.
“You can just go spend an entire afternoon and not actually go with a plan,” Li said. “That’s the vision that we have for the plaza.”
Details: 710 E Union Hills Drive, Phoenix. osakamarketplace.com.
Reach the reporter at reia.li@gannett.com. Follow @reia_reports on Instagram.
Arizona
2026 MLB Draft: Arizona likely to be minimally impacted after down season
Unlike other major pro sports in the United States, Major League Baseball’s annual draft is hardly must-see television. With 20 rounds of picks—it used to be 50—and very few of them household names, only true baseball diehards closely pay attention beyond the first handful of selections.
For college baseball fans, though, the MLB Draft can bring about some stress and uncertainty since both incoming freshmen and existing veterans are eligible to be selected. The best college juniors and seniors are sure to get drafted and sign, while top recruits may be lured into starting their pro careers early via a hefty signing bonus.
Last year the UA saw nine members of the 2025 squad, which reached the College World Series, get drafted and sign. One of its prep signees also took the money rather than come to Tucson.
The 2026 draft, which begins Saturday and finishes Sunday, won’t be nearly as impactful to Arizona’s roster. Only one current Wildcat with eligibility remaining is assured of being drafted: junior right-handed pitcher Owen Kramkowski.
Kramkowski, who struggled in the spring after a breakout 2025 season, is ranked as the 205th-best draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 245 by MLB.com. That would put him in the range of the 6th or 7th round to get selected, though he could go earlier. All indications are Kramkowski will sign.
Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess. No other current or future Wildcats are among BA’s Top 500.
Among Arizona’s outgoing seniors, the top candidate to get drafted is left-handed pitcher Patrick Morris, who is currently playing the MLB Draft League. Infielders Tyler Bickers and Maddox Mihalakis could also get picked late or sign as an undrafted free agent.
Draft-eligible juniors other than Kramkowski include lefty Maclain Roberts, catcher Beau Sylvester and outfielders Andrew Cain and Easton Breyfogle. A couple of Arizona’s 2027 newcomers, such as junior college righty Collin Cobb, prep infielder Ayden Deome and catcher Francisco Rivero, are also at risk of getting picked.
Arizona has had 293 players drafted in its history and has had at least two taken every year since 2011.
The first four rounds of the 2026 MLB Draft are Saturday, with NBC airing the first 10 picks starting at 10 a.m. PT before the broadcast switches to MLB Network and later MLB.com. Rounds 5-20 are Sunday on MLB.com starting at 8:30 a.m. PT.
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