The Grocery Store as a Lifestyle

There’s a certain kind of morning in California that feels different from anywhere else. The sun is already high, the palms are swaying slowly in the warm air, and the day seems to leave room for whatever comes next. Maybe it’s an early workout, a few hours working from a café, a meeting somewhere in West Hollywood, or simply a coffee on the way down the coast to OC.

And somewhere between the morning coffee and the afternoon meeting, there’s usually a stop at the grocery store. Not because you need to, or because something specific is missing, but because in California, the grocery store has become something else entirely. It has become part of the lifestyle.

Especially in LA, grocery shopping can feel less like an errand and more like a ritual. The places themselves are designed to be experienced: carefully curated shelves, organic products, beautifully packaged essentials, freshly prepared food, specialty coffee and products that seem to tell a story about the person buying them.

You don’t just walk in, grab what you need and leave. At the center of this culture are places like Erewhon, where a weekly grocery run has evolved into a distinctly Californian social and lifestyle experience. And now, with new concepts such as Laurel Supply entering the scene, the idea is becoming even more elevated.

The modern California grocery store isn’t just selling food. It’s selling a certain way of living — one that feels healthy without being clinical, luxurious without being formal and effortlessly Californian. Perhaps that is exactly why these stores have become such an important part of the California aesthetic.

MORE THAN A GROCERY STORE

Erewhon has understood something traditional supermarkets never really needed to...

Erewhon has understood something traditional supermarkets never really needed to: people don’t just want to buy things. They want to be somewhere.

The store has become a meeting point for a particular California crowd — celebrities, creatives, athletes, founders, models, wellness obsessives and people who simply want to be a part of it. Its popularity has turned grocery shopping into a form of people-watching.

Grocery shopping has never been a scene. But in LA, of course it is. The smoothie becomes an accessory. The reusable bag becomes part of the outfit. The parking lot becomes an accidental runway.

Erewhon has even crossed directly into fashion and lifestyle culture. The brand collaborated with brands such as Balenciaga or Lululemon — another example of how the boundaries between grocery, fashion, fitness and identity have become increasingly blurred.

This is one of California’s particular talents: turning everyday life into an aesthetic. Coffee. Surfing. Cars. Farmers markets. Fitness. And now, grocery shopping. None of these things were invented in California, but California has a remarkable ability to package them into a lifestyle the rest of the world wants to be part of.

THE PLACES TO BE

Erewhon has become the most recognizable expression of this new kind of grocery culture. Organic produce, prepared food, supplements, beauty products, pantry items and its famous bar all live under the same roof.

Even the smoothie has become part of the language of LA. The Malibu Mango, Coconut Cloud or Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie feel less like something you casually pick up and more like small pieces of the city you can take with you. Celebrity collaborations, including those with Hailey Bieber, have only strengthened that connection between grocery shopping, wellness and popular culture.

And then there is the bag. A branded tote hanging from the shoulder has become almost as recognizable as the shopping itself. A grocery store has somehow managed to become a lifestyle brand, complete with hats, hoodies, bottles and bags.

But Erewhon is no longer the only place playing this game.

In West Hollywood, Laurel Supply has taken the idea of the luxury grocer and made it feel a little quieter and more grown-up. The space is light, minimal and filled with blonde wood. Shelves are lined with beautifully packaged pantry staples, small-batch granola, specialty sauces and specialty drinks. At the center sits a coffee, smoothie and juice bar, while the prepared-food counters offer sushi, salads, hot dishes and freshly made pizza. There is focaccia, sourdough, pies and even gelato.

And perhaps that is where the trend is heading. The California grocery store is becoming increasingly curated: fewer fluorescent lights and endless aisles, more natural materials, beautiful packaging, freshly prepared food and places to sit. The shopping experience itself becomes part of the lifestyle.

THE NEW LUXURY

Luxury is changing. For a long time, it was something you could recognize immediately: a watch, a car, a hotel, a restaurant or a designer label. California has quietly introduced another version.

The influence of the California way of life is increasingly making its way to the East Coast. What started with organic food, supplements and fitness has evolved into something broader — a lifestyle built around health, design, community and modern luxury.

New York is becoming one of its clearest new hubs. Happier Grocery, which opened on Canal Street in 2023, combines organic food with supplements, beauty, merchandise and community events. More recently, Meadow Lane brought a similarly curated grocery concept to Tribeca, while Goop Kitchen expanded from the West Coast with its first New York location. Even California-based Erewhon has announced its first physical presence in the city through a tonic bar concept at Kith Ivy.

The trend suggests that the Los Angeles approach to wellness is no longer purely Californian. Healthy living is becoming a form of lifestyle and cultural status, blending food, fashion, fitness and design. And New York is beginning to give that idea its own identity.

Luxury can be knowing where your food comes from. It can be having the best olive oil in the kitchen, organic strawberries in the fridge and a coffee in your hand while answering emails from a table outside.

That might be the real appeal of places like Erewhon, Laurel Supply and the independent markets along the coast. They turn something completely ordinary into part of the lifestyle. Grocery shopping becomes another extension of the California rhythm — somewhere between work, wellness, food, design and whatever comes next.

Maybe that’s the real luxury.

Making the everyday feel like the good life.