How its counter-culture beginnings as a health food supplier in the 60s paved the way for the now cult-favorite grocer
On 303-B Newbury Street in Downtown Boston, just below street level stood an unassuming 10- by 20-foot stall, its small space was filled with assorted macrobiotic and organic foodstuffs, imported exclusively from organically-grown farmers across America and Japanese health-food producers.
From these humble beginnings in 1966, Japanese immigrants Aveline and Michio Kushi began the counter-cultural movement of macrobiotic and organic diets, which would eventually hop coasts to become L.A.’s favorite natural food grocer: Erewhon Market. Once a Boston stall, the grocer developed into a hot spot for wellness-based foodies and bloggers.
Within its first three years of business in Boston, Erewhon Trading Company, as it was originally known, began forming contractual relationships with organic farms and producers, in addition to wholesaling their own product.
In 1969, Aveline Kushi made the jump to Los Angeles, where she established the newest “Erewhon West” location on Beverly Boulevard.
The Erewhon Market storefront on Beverly Boulevard is pictured, which was the first location established in California. Image courtesy of MarketMan on YouTube
For several decades, this location remained its sole storefront in California. n 2011 it was purchased by Toni Antoci, who developed the vision of Erewhon into its current iteration as a larger-scale niche grocer across Los Angeles. After securing a large injection of funding by growth equity firm Stripes Group LLC in 2019, further storefront expansion, product development, and exponential revenue growth soon followed.
Despite every transition and development that Erewhon Market has endured becoming what it is today, its mission is no different than that of Avelina and Michio Kushi’s original vision on Newbury Street: a life fueled by organic natural foods is a life of health, sustainability, and wellness.
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