WeHoans will finally be able to pick up a $50 bottle of balsamic vinaigrette without having to drive to the Grove.
Bougie grocery store Erewhon, hoping to capitalize on the same wellness culture crowd that patrons its neighbor John Reed Fitness, has started putting up signage on the former Sprouts location at 8550 Santa Monica Boulevard,
No word on an opening date yet.
Sprouts shut its doors in March 2023 after four years in business due to corporate downsizing, but its CEO also blamed the location. 8550 Santa Monica has at times struggled to keep flagship businesses which help to anchor its other tenants.
Erewhon — an anagram of “nowhere,” named after the satirical 19th century novel by Samuel Butler — offers well-to-do shoppers a wide variety of high-end, sometimes farcical fare such as adaptogenic lattes, collagen waters and influencer-backed food brands, as well as exorbitantly priced mainstays like strawberries ($13) and rotisserie chicken ($22).
Shopping at Erewhon is optional
WeHo was the downtrodden trashy neighborhood of the Westside when it was under county ‘management’. The gays lived here because we could do so in peace; the sheriff had a hands-off attitude toward gay people (unlike LAPD right next door, who routinely engaged in entrapment and harassment of gay residents and visitors). We liked the Bohemian feel of the buildings, and landlords mostly let us do what we wanted with our apartments (because they had no intention of spending any of our rent money on upkeep). City hood meant the implementation of rent stabilization, of public safety enforcement, of cleaned… Read more »
Congrats, you got mainstreamed, and the ones yelling at everyone are entitled queers who now have strollers.
Of COURSE
It will be nice to have something in that space for a few months. I’m not sure how a market even more esoteric and expensive than Sprouts can make a go of it in that same, vast space. I think both markets ignore(d) having a Trader Joe’s across the street at their peril. As a proud resident of the Westbourne Luxury District, I’d prefer something more viable.
This is great news! I’m sure it will be packed with all the new Beverly Hills MAGA kids moving into WeHo.
I don’t recall luxury grocery stores being mentioned once by any residents during the 40-year strategic planning public input sessions. What a waste of time and money.
Gorgeous ridiculously priced grocery store.
Good luck to them.
What’s funny is that Erewhon started out as a tiny place in Boston selling organic foods that was relatively inexpensive at a time when iceberg lettuce and JIF was considered health food. It didn’t become the $40 smoothie dump that it is today until after 2010 when the current owners bought it and decided to fleece the Tic-Tockers and their hangers-on.
The location on Santa Monica Boulevard near Sunset in Silver Lake is always busy
I love it! It will add a much-needed vibrancy to that corner.
More places for the people of WeHo to spend the money that they don’t have, that they get from their non-profit job or that somehow appears in their bank accounts. I can hear it now, “One of the trainers at my $300/month gym told me that I HAVE to shop here”, along with shaming those who shop at Trader Joe’s. Shopping at Ralph’s probably already ends up in banishment, even though Ralph’s on Fountain has the friendliest employees in town!
Bad location. Sprouts which is much more cost effective didn’t survive. With inflation and people already complaining about Pavilions costs not sure if Erewhon will succeed here. Not to mention even the med spa lasted less than 6 months! Sunset would have been better.