LA's new Laurel Supply may be Calif.'s most expensive grocery store yet

"These days, for a certain slice of brand-aware, high-net-worth Angeleno, the hottest hangout is the grocery store. It appears that Southern Californians simply can't get enough of places to buy provisions, especially when those glossy, endlessly curated spaces come equipped with fancy smoothie bars and orderly shelves of stuff in glass jars."

"Expanding rich-hippie behemoth Erewhon debuted in West Hollywood in February with hundreds of shoppers queued up to get inside. Now, only a few blocks away on Santa Monica Boulevard, folks are clamoring to get into new upscale grocer Laurel Supply - leaving the only months-old Erewhon conspicuously empty some mornings."

"Meanwhile, Laurel Supply opened this past weekend without so much as a social media announcement or a website. And yet, the portable ring light-toting crowd, phones at attention, found it anyway. On Tuesday, 10 minutes before the 17,000-square-foot shop opened at noon, more than 50 people were lounging at tables set up for outdoor dining or standing near the entrance of the craftsman-style building along Santa Monica Boulevard."

"They were all waiting for the glass doors to part and grant them entry into a food, drink and wellness paradise - albeit, a chichi one, and perhaps, dare we say, the most chichi of its kind to date in the country, let alone LA. Laurel Supply is the brainchild of Dean McKillen and Phil Howard, owners of nearby Italian-leaning neighborhood restaurant Laurel Hardware, as well as Hillstone-esque Culver City restaurant Laurel Grill."

Los Angeles’ most anticipated openings are increasingly upscale grocery stores rather than nightlife venues or high-end dining. Brand-aware, high-net-worth Angelenos are drawn to glossy, curated shopping environments that include features like fancy smoothie bars and neatly organized glass-jared products. Erewhon’s West Hollywood expansion drew long lines, and nearby Laurel Supply has similarly attracted crowds, leaving some Erewhon locations empty at times. Laurel Supply opened without social media promotion or a website, yet people still found it and waited outside before opening. The 17,000-square-foot store offers food, drink, and wellness in a highly polished, luxury-oriented setting, created by owners of nearby Laurel restaurants.

Read at SFGATE