When William Rath mapped his school trip after Los Angeles in May, his itinerary included the city's excellence reference points: looking at the Hollywood sign from Beachwood Canyon, touring celebrity houses, scanning the Pacific Ocean for whales in front of the Long Beach coast. But in the midst of these classic stops, a destination rose above the rest. Erewhon, the luxury shopkeeper, was not negotiable, not for his groceries, but for influence, curiosity and show.
Rath, a freshly coined graduate from the University of Oregon and influencer, made his pilgrimage to the location of Beverly Hills, the gleaming well -being of Wellness cuddled a few steps from Rodeo Drive, where the strawberry glaze skin of Hailey Bieber, a routine shake, routinely attracts tails of 20 deep plants. Unable to find a seat outside, he retired to his rental car in the shadow of a nearby parking lot, and filmed a review of Tiktok.
“Tiktok was the main reason why I went. He has always been on my page 'for you',” says Rath, 25 years old. “I always see many influential people going there and testing different things. It is a great trend and has not stopped.”
Once the domain of welfare devotees and Hollywood experts, Erewhon has transformed into something more universal: for some, it is its local grocery store, but now it is also a tourist destination on the desire list. Like the Hollywood Walk of Fame or the Getty Museum, the exclusive seller attracts visitors outside the city in search of not only support, but also: a shake, a snapshot and a social media test that were there.
Hailey Bieber's strawberry glaze skin shake ($ 20) attracts tourists to Erewhon.
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
Aspiration defines much of Erewhon's attractiveness. In an era in which tourists are looking for experiences as well as the reference points, the store offers something unique: a way of trying a certain brilliant type. It is well -being as entertainment, purchases of groceries as a state symbol. Some tourists are only holidays there to look at the speechless, while others are influential there for the content.
“It is a cultural moment,” says Christina Basias, 36, who reviewed the locations of Santa Monica, Venice and Silver Lake of Erewhon when he travels from New Jersey with his wife Alexis Androulakis, 38. When they are going, beauty products and entrepreneurs supply new trends of well -being products and ingredients that have not yet reached mass retailers. “At least 40% of what I see in Erewhon, I can't find any other place,” adds Androulakis.
Founded in 1966 by the macrobiotic pioneers Michio and Aveline Kushi, Erewhon began as a natural food stand in a Boston market before opening a location in Los Angeles in 1969. The couple borrowed the name of the store, an anagram of “any part”, of the satirical novel by Samuel Butler of 1872 of the same name, which focused on a utopia where a disease was considered. After Tony Antoci and his wife Josephine acquired the brand in 2011, stores became more elegant and full of light; Valet parking became the norm. Perhaps the most significant, Erewhon began to associate with celebrities in exclusive milkshake collaborations with nothing more iconic than the Hailey Bieber strawberry glaze skin shake.
Erewhon's exterior is seen in Culver City in 2024.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
By dominating the intersection of cured well -being and celebrity cache, the brand has turned daily purchases into a kind of luxury theater.
For many visitors for the first time, going to the store is promoted to see the phenomenon for themselves. That was the appeal for Chloe Forero, a Chicago influence, which visited the in May. “It was largely an integral food with steroids,” she says. “It simply seemed more a social experiment than a place where people tea day by day.”
Forero, 22, left with a Sushi roll, two juices and a cookie for a total of $ 65. “The cookie was great,” he admits. “But I ate that sushi thinking that maybe this will change my life. Maybe this sushi is so good that it is worth the price that comes with him. It was not.”
Some Erewhon buyers for a long time, yes, some of whom are influential, complain about social networks about Erewhon tourists. Meredith Lynch, native, writer and influential of Los Angeles that frequently dissects the influential online culture, says that Beverly Hills' location, in particular, has become a stage. “Both about Los Angeles, for better or worse, it's about being seen,” she says. “Erewhon is a place where people go, and are seen.”
Within the city of Culver Erewhon in 2024.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
The performative appearance resonates with young people outside the peoples. Kiara Dewrance, Cabo City chef, South Africa, hoped to try Bieber's shake when she visited last September. But after seeing the price ($ 20), he opted for two less expensive drinks and still moved excited.
“It feels like when you are watching a movie. He felt like a moment of movie in real life,” says Dewrance, 27.
Gibson Ardoline, a 19 -year -old influencer and specialization in Business Administration at the University of Florida, spent $ 91 at lunch when he traveled the first time last November, which included sushi, juice and one of the hot bar meals of the store. He compensated for the costs filming two Tiktok reels that narrates his experience, which received more than 1 million combined views and earned him more than he spent in Erewhon thanks to Tiktok's payments as part of the platform creators rewards program.
“It was worth going once, just to laugh and say that I spent $ 90 at lunch,” he says, although he wouldn't reveal how much he did. “It may not be a laugh for everyone, but for me, it was profitable.”
Not everyone is ambivalent. Patrick Oatman, a model student and economics at the University of Connecticut, was really impressed when he went through Erewhon last June.
“It seemed to be kilometers from a usual grocery store, so it was entertaining in that perspective. It felt like this out of reach,” says Oatman, 21.
Erewhon has several brand welfare products, such as this Blue Sea Moss Gel.
(Juno Carmel / Los Angeles Times)
For Rath, who hopes to move to Los Angeles and practice the entertainment law one day, its $ 100 tab was less a travel expense than a rite of initiation.
“This could not be my weekly place for the groceries, but I had a job in Los Angeles, maybe I would go, although it would have to be like once every two weeks,” he explains.
When asked to classify Erewhon among the other iconic places he visited, he did not jumped a rhythm.
“Honestly?” He says. “In-n-out was fine, but I preferred Erewhon.”
