mornin' merrymakers 🍦🥪🌱🛒🍎🏙️
if you’re like most shoppers these days, you default to shopping at superstores, malls, or online megastores that “win” by having everything you could possible need.
which is why today, i’m stoked to show you a store that wins by saying no.
meet orchard grocer.
this tiny grocery + deli on orchard street in nyc has two non-negotiable rules:
⓵ everything is vegan
⓶ everything is palm oil free
which means a lot of products are not eligible to be on their shelves. you’d think that would make running a grocery store harder. but, it’s become one of orchard grocer’s biggest advantages.
welcome to the third piece in my real-world retail series with square, where today we’re studying a small, extremely intentional neighborhood shop.
soft serve, strong values
orchard grocer opened on the lower east side in 2017, but sisters erica & sara kubersky have been building vegan businesses in nyc since 2001. they opened mooshoes back when, as erica put it, “no one really knew the word vegan.”
now everyone & their grandmother does.
orchard grocer is part grocery store, part deli, part soft serve destination & part launchpad for independent food brands. on a hot saturday, people line up outside for soft serve made from cashews, rice milk, olive oil & sugar.
most of them are not standing there contemplating the ethics of palm oil.
they just want really good soft serve.
this is exactly what makes orchard grocer so interesting & successful. the mission is serious while the experience is playful, delicious, & delightful.
inside my new piece, i break down five strategies orchard grocer uses to turn its values into a business advantage, including:
🥪 the surprisingly strategic reason they added a deli
🌱 why having fewer options leads to better discovery
📊 what they trust when gut instinct clashes with sales data
🏘️ why being a good neighbor is more than a nice-to-have for the sisters
& my favorite lesson of all: why independent retail doesn’t survive independently.
↓ let’s go inside orchard grocer↓
