America's Most Expensive Grocery Chain Is Opening 2 New Stores in 2023
High-end California retailer Erewhon Market is more than just a regional grocer.
"It's a phenomenon (and sometimes spectacle) that shoppers and critics joke could only exist in Los Angeles," wrote LA Times wealth reporter Andrea Chang, who profiled the market's surprising rise from a "single rundown location" to a celebrity-magnet mini-chain with over a half-dozen stores.
Perhaps best known for ridiculously expensive items like $12.49 bottles of water and $21 smoothies, Erewhon is now a tourist destination as well as a health-obsessed, certified-organic supermarket.
Chang reported in 2021 that Erewhon execs had big plans to expand the business to as many as 20 locations—potentially even including sites far outside its Southern California comfort zone, like San Francisco and New York.
While it has yet to reach such far-flung locales, the upscale retailer's footprint is growing.
Just this week, Erewhon opened its newest and second-largest store, in Culver City, Calif., according to Winsight Grocery Business.
An opening announcement posted on Erewhon's Instagram feed included a video showing customers lined up far down the block to get into the newest location. "Must be expensive just being in that line," one commenter quipped.
Like other locations, the new 14,000-square-foot, Art Deco-inspired market reportedly includes Erewhon's popular Tonic Bar, serving coffee, tea, bone broth, açaí bowls, and, of course, those lavish smoothies—notably including the "skin supporting" Strawberry Glaze, created in partnership with celebrity model and socialite Hailey Bieber, for $18.
The trendy retailer is not done yet, either. Erewhon further announced it will open another location in Pasadena later this year. Once that's completed, the retailer will have a total of 10 locations, all within the greater Los Angeles area.
Sign up for our newsletter!
