Those outside of Los Angeles may need to wait a bit longer to visit Erewhon and try their viral Hailey Bieber smoothie or the internet-breaking $20 strawberry. Many fans misinterpreted the luxury grocery chain’s September 30 announcement on Instagram, and now they’re a little bummed to learn stores won’t actually be opening near them in the immediate future.
It all started when Erewhon posted an Instagram carousel showing a handful of maps of major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, San Diego, Seattle, Las Vegas, Dallas, Santa Barbara, Nashville, Phoenix, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Portland, Denver, Charleston, Salt Lake City, and New Orleans.
They originally captioned the post, “A taste of Erewhon in your city. Coming soon,” which fans immediately took to mean that stores would be opening up in all of those cities for the first time. Excited comments immediately began flooding in, saying things like “omg NYC let’s gooo,” “seeing Boston just made me scream of joy!” and “Literally going to throw a celebratory party in Charleston.”
https://www.instagram.com/erewhon/p/DPOq3QKkSr0
Unfortunately, that’s not quite the case, as the store quickly changed the caption to clarify: “A Taste of Erewhon Shipping to Your City. Coming soon.” The addition of “shipping” means customers across the country will likely be able to order select items to their homes if they live in metropolitan areas. Some were frustrated once they noticed the differentiation.
“I love how everyone ignored the part where it says shipping to your city, not opening in your city,” said one commenter, to which others replied, “erewhon evil for that!!” and “They edited to SHIPPING,” with a sobbing emoji. “Wait SHIPPING… these are not locations…” another said. “My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined,” said one sad superfan when they realized their mistake.
So far, it’s unclear what exactly shoppers will be able to order via the upcoming shipping offering, and the availability may be limited if it’s true shipping. That would mean only shelf-stable or semi-shelf-stable items could be sent to shoppers for food safety reasons.
However, it’s possible that Erewhon plans to open ghost kitchens in those cities to offer fresher items – yes, like the viral smoothie – which is what they announced for New York City in early September via Uber Eats and Postmates. That approach can also serve as a case study to gauge interest and do market research for potential future stores. In that way, it’s possible those locations could eventually get actual stores shoppers can, you know, shop in.
