Convenience stores used to mean candy counters, snack chips, and refrigerators packed with bottled soda. The Goods Mart has given the concept a healthy upgrade—stocking a socially conscious collection of clean food and beverages with a focus on emerging brands and diverse makers.
The newest Goods Mart opened in October 2022 inside the lobby of a prewar office tower on 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. The 200-square-foot, ground-floor space is the third Goods Mart to debut in New York City. Founder Rachel Krupa launched the first Goods Mart in Soho in 2019, then opened a second shop in Rockefeller Center in November 2021.
Krupa attributes the brand’s expansion in part to the dire real estate landscape during the pandemic. “The amazing team at Tishman Speyer reached out to us in 2021 as the world was reopening and tenants were starting to go back to work to ask if we wanted to take over their existing newsstand at 30 Rockefeller Center,” she explained. “The idea of bringing better-for-you options to a corporate setting was important to them as well as us, so the partnership was perfection.”
Tishman Speyer also owns the 42nd Street office tower, and a year later offered Krupa space there in a former newsstand.
Like the store’s other two outlets, the 42nd Street Goods Mart is bright and well-organized. About 200 different packaged food items—from sourdough sea salt crackers to plant-based jerky to hot and spicy green olives—are displayed on accessible shelves and racks. Cold beverages like yerba mate, vanilla cold brew, and amaretto cola are neatly arranged in spotless, well-lit refrigerators.
Goods Mart stocks a small number of grab-and-go options, such as thick slices of vegan, gluten-free banana walnut bread and chicken salad from The Elk, a New York City maker that uses local ingredients and sustainable practices. Prices for both packaged and grab-and-go items are comparable to price points of similar foods from a more traditional convenience store or bodega.
The Goods Mart’s entire selection “is really geared towards the office individual who needs breakfast in the morning, a snack during the day or before or after class, or something when they need an afternoon pick me up,” said Krupa. One team member staffs the store, which is open five days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., yet currently closes on weekends.
Since launching, the new Goods Mart has received a warm welcome from the office workers who stream by on their way to the elevator banks. These regulars have made ready-to-drink coffee, energy drinks, and bottled water bestsellers, said Krupa. (These are also the top sellers at Rockefeller Center and Soho, she added.)
Just as important as offering healthier products is the store’s commitment to showcasing brands by female founders and ethnically diverse producers. This commitment “is the backbone of what makes The Goods Mart,” said Krupa.
“Our goal is to be a retailer that uplifts and supports founders and the brands that fill our store. We want to give shelf space to brands that have created an incredible product, taste amazing, and are just launching their product into the world.”
To that end, Krupa said, The Goods Mart will never charge manufacturers a slotting fee to ensure that their product gets on the store’s shelves. What’s more important is to choose brands and give them the exposure they deserve.
Added Krupa: “Our goal is to be a resource for the founders so they can become household names of the future. Our customers love our mission and love to learn about the founders behind the brands.”
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