New Yorkers divided as celebrity-loved luxury LA grocery chain Erewhon teases first public Manhattan location

Get ready, New Yorkers, because it looks like luxury Los Angeles-based grocery chain Erewhon may be bringing its viral smoothies to Manhattan.

Erewhon previously launched a ‘pop-up’ smoothie bar inside the members-only club Kith Ivy, where memberships cost $36,000 a year.

But now, it seems that every New Yorker will finally be able to get their hands on one of Erewhon’s famous drinks. 

Over the weekend, rumors erupted that the celebrity-loved food store, which often makes headlines for selling extremely expensive products, would be opening up its first public New York location. 

The speculation began after Instagram user known as NoHoNYC spotted Erewhon’s logo on a building in NoHo and uploaded a snap of it to their account.

The image showed a New York City building under construction; an Erewhon sign was seen peeking through the scaffolding, and it sent New Yorkers into a frenzy.

According to the New York Post, Erewhon will indeed take over the now-closed PlantShed cafe that was inside Kith on the corner of Bleecker and Broadway. 

However, Chandler Forsythe, who serves as the director of operations and community at the NoHo Business Improvement District, told the publication that he heard from district property mavens that it won’t be a food store, but rather, an Erewhon smoothie shop and cafe.

Erewhon, which has been labeled as ‘the world’s most expensive grocery store,’ frequently attracts celebrities like the Kardashians, Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber, Miley Cyrus and even Kai Trump. 

The premium grocery store started in Boston in 1966, selling macrobiotic and organic foods, but has more recently become a trendy spot for image-obsessed influencers, spurred by social media and a private equity deal in 2019. 

It now has 14 locations in California’s most affluent neighborhoods, all with a focus on locally sourced, vegan and organic food catering to niche diets. 

It has become known for selling pricey products, including a $26 bottle of ‘oxygenated’ water and hot sauce costing as much as $40.

In addition, it has earned a reputation for its expensive smoothies and an array of stars like Hailey, Kourtney Kardashian, Sabrina Carpenter and Gisele Bundchen have launched signature beverages at the upscale grocery chain.

Back in November, Erewhon opened a ‘pop-up tonic bar’ inside the New York City private members’ club Kith Ivy.

It allowed non-members to order smoothies through delivery services like Uber Eats and Postmates, however, they had to be within a one-mile radius of the tonic bar, which was located in the West Village.

Many people took to the comment section of NoHoNYC’s post to share their thoughts on the possibility of an Erewhon cafe coming to the city, and while some were ecstatic by it, others were not.

‘More than 40 percent of New York City families and roughly one in five New Yorkers overall cannot afford their weekly grocery costs according to a 2025 report released by the Robin Hood Foundation and Columbia University, which surveyed about 3,000 households across different demographics and incomes,’ one user pointed out.

‘Researchers point to food costs in nyc increasing by 33 percent over the last decade and wages haven’t been keeping up. This is just gluttony while nearly half the population can’t afford the basics because of greed.’

‘No actual New Yorker wants this,’ another scoffed, while someone else penned: ‘Nah, we good.’

‘Not in this economy!’ read a fourth comment.

A fifth said: ‘Ew. We don’t need that here. Go back to LA, we don’t want you here in NYC.’

Others, however, shared their excitement. 

‘Insane! I’ve been getting their smoothies off of Uber, it’ll be nice to finally go inside!’ wrote one user. 

‘Take my money,’ joked someone else.

‘$50 smoothie here I come,’ chimed in someone else. 

A different user branded it the ‘best day of their life.’