What Is Erewhon? All About the Celebrity-Loved Grocery Store Chain

Erewhon is not your average grocery store.

The California chain entered cultural consciousness in the past few years thanks in part to celebrity-branded smoothies and the rise in private chefs documenting their days shopping there on TikTok.

Through all the glitzy drinks, hard to pronounce supplements and sushi sandwiches they offer, it might be hard to envision what Erewhon is, exactly. Here’s everything you need to know about the Los Angeles based market so you can also snack like a celeb.

What is Erewhon? 

Erewhon is a luxury grocery store with all nine of its stores located solely in Los Angeles County. A 10th Erewhon location is set to open in Pasadena, Calif. in September 2023. 

Produce lines the aisles of Erewhon in neat, Instagrammable displays while many of the store’s pantry staples and products come in easy-to-organize, aesthetically pleasing glass jars. Traditional groceries aren’t the main feature of Erewhon’s aisles, though. Rather, many are drawn to the store’s collections of powders and supplements like sea moss gel, chlorophyll, and maca powder, just to name a few. The stores also feature cafes and tonic bars for patrons to grab a snack or a sip while shopping. 

Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty 

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How did Erewhon get popular? 

In spite of its strong L.A. identity, the very first Erewhon actually found its home in the Northeast. In 1966, Japanese immigrants Michio and Aveline Kushi opened one of the first stores in the United States that focused on macronutrients and natural foods. This Boston-based store was called Erewhon, sharing a name with a fictional utopia featured in Samuel Butler’s book of the same name. It’s also the phonetic reversal of the word “nowhere.”

A few years later, Aveline moved to Los Angeles and opened another Erewhon in West Hollywood. After a few changes in ownership and the closing of the East Coast iteration, Tony and Josephine Antoci wound up buying the original L.A. location in 2011 and slowly began to grow and transform the business into what it’s known as today. 

Erewhon is now one of Los Angeles’s hottest places to see and be seen. Its popularity grew in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when lockdowns made grocery stores one of the few places people were able to go outside their houses. Erewhon is often visited by stars like Cara Delevigne, Miley Cyrus, Jake Gyllenhaal, A$AP Rocky, Hilary Duff and more. 

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Hailey Biebers Strawberry Glaze Smoothie from Erewhon.

Getty

What are the most popular items at Erewhon? 

If you find yourself on ErewhonTok, you already know that the California grocer has a hot bar that is famous for its high-quality selection of goodies. A few of the more popular items include the ranch-flavored kale chips, the sushi sandwich and the buffalo cauliflower. 

But the buzziest items are the freshly-made smoothies. While these blended drinks range anywhere from $11 to $20, they’re said to be flavorful and packed with additional nutrients from supplements and powders.

For Erewhon fanatics, the store offers two tiers of membership at $100 and $200 per year. Both subscriptions allow members to get one smoothie of the month for free for the first two weeks, earn points for every $10 spent and get discounts and special offers from lifestyle brands carried at Erewhon. 

People are also big fans of the store’s branded merchandise, like the Erewhon candle, their tote bag, and a hoodie. 

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Which celebrities have an Erewhon smoothie? 

Part of Erewhon’s meteoric rise is its tendency to partner with celebrities and influencers who come out with a new flavorful smoothie each month. The first official collaboration came from TikTok creator Tinx who made these partnerships a mainstay of the brand. 

Usually, these smoothies run for a limited time, but the most popular, Hailey Bieber’s Strawberry Glaze Smoothie, is still on the menu. This pink creation, which was originally launched to promote Bieber’s skincare line Rhode, is made with almond milk, dates, vanilla-flavored collagen, sea moss, coconut cream, maple syrup, hyaluronic acid, strawberries, avocado, vanilla stevia and a housemade strawberry glaze. 

Since then a wave of stars and influencers have jumped on board. In an interview with Fashionista, Vito Antoci, the executive vice president of Erewhon, told the publication that Kris Jenner was even interested in getting a smoothie of her own.

“Kris Jenner contacted me many months ago and said, ‘I want to create a smoothie,’ and I said to her team, ‘We don’t really see an alignment between Erewhon and Kris — find one of [her] daughters,'” Antoci tells Fashionista. “Kourtney and Travis [Barker] were shopping at Erewhon forever in Calabasas.” This ultimately led to the Poosh founder getting her own specialty smoothie. 

Bella Hadid making her Erewhon smoothie.

Bella Hadid/Instagram

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Bella Hadid also nabbed a smoothie with the retailer. In January, The model and entrepreneur stopped by Erewhon Market in Santa Monica to make her new signature smoothie. The Bella Hadid Kinsicle, which was available at the Los Angeles based grocery chain for the month of January, is inspired by Hadid and her line of non-alcoholic alternative drinks, Kin Euphorics.

Can I get Erewhon outside of Los Angeles? 

A lot of Erewhon’s most popular items, like the smoothies, can only be found at the in-store cafes in California. However, Erewhon does ship some of its products around the U.S., Canada and to the United Kingdom. Some online creators have also recreated popular celebrity-loved smoothies at home to see what all the hype is about. 

Products like the Erewhon tote bag, wellness supplements and beauty essentials like soaps and lotions are among some of the items the store will ship out to curious customers. Additionally, shoppers are able to order some of the pantry staples and snacks from the Erewhon private label. Whether it’s a jar of organic roasted peanut butter, the store’s spirulina popcorn or any flavor of the grocer’s kale chips, people looking for a taste of Erewhon can visit their site to see what’s available.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education