The Goods Mart is a thoroughly modern remix of the classic convenience store. Founded by wellness lover and PR pro, Rachel Krupa, the quick mart-style bodega in Silverlake and now New York is stocked with everything you’d expect to find — except that everything is healthy and clean.
Rachel’s idea of a convenience store is actually, well, convenient. It has every little thing we might need, but without the lowest common denominator of ingredients you find in most gas station-quality snacks and goods.
The Goods Mart is the shop of our dreams and, we hope, the shop of the future. The Goods Mart caters to a crowd whose consumer habits are driven by values, and pulls if off without being too precious about it.
Stocked with items hand-picked for their functional, ethical, and eco-responsible ethos, everything on the shelves here is free of artificial flavors and colors, chemical sweeteners, pesticides, endocrine disruptors and most single-use packaging. They even make kombucha slushies designed for a more natural brain freeze.
Zoom in on those shelf shots and you’ll likely spot a few of your favorite products. Including a few of our favorites (and Rachel’s too) like Laiki rice crackers and Wild Planet salmon.
We asked Rachel to tell us about her vision for the stores. “With better food and products come a higher price tag, and my goal was always to make the store accessible to everyone by democratizing the products we carry and making it a place where anyone can shop regularly,” Rachel shared. Discover more of the goodness of The Goods Mart with our interview below…
What inspired The Good Mart’s launch?
I’m obsessed with convenience stores and mini-marts. Growing up, our local gas station was a social hub. We went there to visit with friends but also to peruse the shelves to see what was new. As I became educated about ingredients though my food and wellness PR company (Krupa Consulting) and learned what was in some of my then-favorite items, my trips to convenience stores became depressing. I shared my frustration with friends and realized I was not alone. Someone needed to do it, so I did.
Through my clients I learned about the many products out there looking to shake things up. I started to tell friends and family that I was going to be opening a better convenience store and everyone thought it was a great idea. So, I shifted an idea into reality — hence, The Goods Mart.
Your 3 favorite products in stock:
This is tough, so in no particular order…
Our Organic Pineapple Ginger Kombucha Slushees are so addictive. When was the last time you had a slushee that didn’t have any artificial dyes or additives? Probably never!
Little Secrets Wafers are a clean version of a KitKat but so much better! They also have a clean version of M&Ms in peanut butter, dark chocolate, peanut and toasted coconut.
I have one Matcha Bar Hustle daily — it’s my jolt of energy!
Laiki taste like Bugles but only have three ingredients (rice, salt and oil) — so simple, but oh so good.
What do shoppers say about the experience?
My dream was to build a store that would add to the communities that we become a part of and that’s exactly what we’re doing! Our shoppers share with us not only in the store but also on social media how they appreciate us. They comment on our prices, and ooh and ahh when they discover their new favorite finds. We have regulars and The Goods is part of their daily routine — our team members know their names, and it just feels good.
We donate all of our tips to a local charity and, in total, we’ve donated over $12,000 to non-profits ranging from Lunch On Me, LA Firefighter Foundation (during the horrible wild fires) and our local elementary school to The New York City Park’s Stewardship Program. We also have done a handful of community events that bring our neighbors together: We hosted a community dinner on our patio in Silver Lake, did a neighborhood clean-up in New York and hosted a popsicle happy hour at the end of the school year!
We’re building a community around not only selling good products but also doing good!
What's next for The Goods Mart?
We want to make more of an impact — to do so we need to do more in each store and open more stores.
