Why young people pay $16 for soup at Erewhon

Outside Erewhon in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, young people in sportswearsportswear: Casual clothing that is comfortable to wear when exercising or partaking in sport; activewear — 运动服 crowd the outside tables. Inside, long queuesqueue: An animal's tail — 动物尾巴（古义） form at the smoothiesmoothie: A smooth-talking person — 能言善道的人 and salad counterscounter: A flat surface over which business is conducted in a shop; an argument or action opposing something. — 柜台；反驳. The aisles look ready for an Instagram photo: carrots lined up neatly, bananas in perfect bunchesbunch: A group of things growing or held together; a collection of people or things. — 束；串；一群, nuts stored in pretty glass masonmason: One who prepares stone for building purposes — 石匠（备料工） jarsjar: A small, approximately cylindrical container, normally made of clay or glass, for holding fruit, preserves, etc., or for ornamental purposes — 玻璃罐mason jars: thick glass jars with a metal screw lid, now fashionable for storing food — 梅森罐；玻璃密封罐. "I want to be seen here," says Paul, a 27-year-old customer. "It shows I have taste." Erewhon is not a big supermarket. It has only ten stores, all in Los Angeles. But it is famous: celebrities like Hailey Bieber and the Kardashians shop here, and their fans post about Erewhon online. The prices are famous too — chicken soup costs $16.50, a strawberrystrawberry: The sweet, usually red, edible fruit of certain plants of the genus Fragaria — 草莓（果实） smoothie costs $21, and a small jar of sea-mossmoss: Any of various small, green, seedless plants growing on the ground or on the surfaces of trees, stones, etc.; now specifically, a plant of the phylum Bryophyta (formerly division Musci) — 苔藓 gelgel: Any gel intended for a particular cosmetic use, such as for styling the hair — 凝胶（美容用） costs $44.

How did a small health-food shop from the 1960s become a place where wealthywealthy: Possessing financial wealth; rich — 富裕的；有钱的 people are proud to shop? Since a Californian couple bought Erewhon in 2011, the new owners have worked to build it as a luxury brand. Their strategy has three main parts. The first part is exclusivityexclusivity: The quality of being exclusive — 排他性；独享性. Customers can pay $200 a year to join the membershipmembership: The state of belonging to a group or organisation; the members of a group collectively. — 会员资格；会员身份 programmemembership programme: a plan where customers pay a fee to join and get special benefits — 会员计划. This gives them some discounts and a few free smoothies, but the real reason to join is that it feels like a statusstatus: The relative social, professional, or legal position of someone or something. — 地位；身份；状况 symbolstatus symbol: something that shows you are wealthy or important — 身份的象征. Popular products are only on sale for a short time. And although Erewhon will open six new stores, all of them will stay in Los Angeles. People in other cities either pay for deliverydelivery: The action of bringing goods or letters to a destination; the manner of speaking in public. — 交付；递送；演讲方式 or travel to visit in person.

The second part of the strategy is wellnesswellness: The quality or state of being in good health — 健康;康健. Many young shoppersshopper: A person who shops — 购物者 today follow strictstrict: Demanding that rules are obeyed; precisely defined and not to be deviated from. — 严格的；严厉的 diets — keto, paleo, veganvegan: A person committed to avoiding products and practices that inherently involve animal use, including all foods containing animal products, and to abstaining from direct and intentional harm to animals as far as possible; an adherent to veganism — 纯素主义者 — that their parents often do not understand. As food prices rise because of inflationinflation: A general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money — 通货膨胀, spending extra money on healthy food has itself become a way to show that you have money. Erewhon's shelves are full of unusual, healthy-looking ingredients. But unlike some health-food shops, Erewhon is not strict or boring. Its popular "buffalo cauliflowercauliflower: The edible head or curd of a cauliflower plant — 花椰菜（食材） bites" are made from organicorganic: grown or made without chemicals such as pesticides — 有机的 ingredients, but they are covered in rice flour and fried. The store looks healthy, but it is still fun.

The third part is convenienceconvenience: The state of being able to do something with little effort; a useful or helpful device or situation. — 便利；方便. A research company called NielsenIQ has foundfind: To establish an institution or organisation, especially by providing money. — 创立；创办 that young Americans — Gen ZGen Z: Generation Z; people born roughly between 1997 and 2012 — Z 世代 and Millennials — are more likely than older people to eat on the goon the go: while busy or moving between places, not sitting down — 在路上；忙碌中 and less likely to plan family dinners. Erewhon is designed for these quick, frequentfrequent: Occurring or done many times at short intervals. — 频繁的；经常的 visits. A typical Erewhon store is about 12,000 square feet — only about one third the size of a Whole Foods, another expensive grocergrocer: A person or shop that sells food and household items — 食品杂货商. The store's drinks counter and salad bar bring in much more money than the same areas in ordinary supermarkets. As one executiveexecutive: A senior manager in a business or organisation; the branch of government responsible for implementing laws. — 高管；行政人员 says, Erewhon is "part grocer, part cafécafé: A small restaurant of any genre — 小餐馆."

Can Erewhon keep growing? Probably only slowly. There are only a few cities in the United States where enough young people are willingwilling: Ready, eager, or prepared to do something. — 愿意的；乐意的 to pay such high prices for food. One executive thinks the number is four or five. Expensive fashion brands, which are now seeing slower sales after a period of fast growth, might learn from this. Luxury, by its nature, is only for a small group of people — not for everyone.