Rachel Krupa opened The Goods Mart in 2018 on a single premise: a convenience store stocked entirely with curated, better-for-you products, no artificial flavors, no pay-to-play shelf fees and everything personally tasted. Quite a unique concept in the world of grocery and retail. Eight years later, she is bringing that model to Brooklyn, with a new location that opened this week at the base of Williamsburg Wharf , a 600-plus-unit residential development in South Williamsburg.

"What excited me was that there still wasn't really a place in the area where people could discover the kinds of products we carry at The Goods Mart, emerging snack brands, pantry staples, beauty, home essentials, grab-and-go, all in one space," Krupa says.

“But beyond that, there's something really special about being one of the early retailers in a neighborhood that's still taking shape. You're not just opening a store. You're helping build the rhythm and culture of the community from the beginning.”

Why Krupa Reimagined the Convenience Store

Krupa built The Goods Mart because consumers were evolving faster than convenience retail was, and she saw the gap before most of the industry did. She had spent more than two decades running a food and beverage PR agency, watching founder-led CPG brands struggle to reach shoppers even when the products were exceptional. Better-for-you snacks and clean-ingredient brands were finding audiences, but discovery still required real effort.

"You had to know where to go to find these brands," she says. The Goods Mart was her answer to that problem: a store that did the work for you.

She set ingredient standards early, working with registered dietitian Ashley Koff to establish principles around no artificial flavors or colors. But the mission went beyond a clean-label checklist.

"What was equally important to me was creating a space that felt exciting, nostalgic, discoverable, and approachable," Krupa explains. “I believed this next generation of consumers still wanted snacks, convenience, impulse buys, and discovery. They just wanted products that felt more aligned with how they were shopping and eating.”

That instinct came, in part, from a deeply personal place. Krupa grew up in a small town in Michigan, where the local Sunoco gas station served as a genuine community gathering spot.

"It was where you ran into people, grabbed a snack after school, picked up milk or eggs for dinner," she recalls. "As I got older and moved to New York and Los Angeles, I realized the convenience store format itself still made so much sense, but the products inside hadn’t evolved with the way many people were eating and shopping."

Her goal was never to reinvent the corner store. It was to update its shelves. She was not alone in sensing the format's resilience: NielsenIQ's 2024 State of Convenience report found that convenience stores added 2,222 new locations in 2023, outpacing dollar stores, with healthier and fresher offerings now among the key growth drivers.

How The Goods Mart Works Without Slotting Fees

The Goods Mart does not charge slotting fees, accept paid placements or give any brand a shortcut to the shelf. Every product is personally tasted and selected on the strength of its ingredients, packaging, founder story and taste alone. In a retail industry where those pay-to-play structures can make or break a young brand, that stance is rare.

"I've always had a strong belief that great products should earn shelf space because they're great products, not because a brand can afford to pay for placement," Krupa says. “A lot of founders were pouring everything they had into making an incredible product, but getting onto shelves was often the biggest hurdle because of the financial barriers attached to it.”

That philosophy has made The Goods Mart a known launchpad for emerging brands before they graduate to larger retailers like Whole Foods Market. Founders in the CPG world have come to understand the store's role in the ecosystem, though Krupa says the value still surprises some.

“What I think surprises people is that the value goes beyond just getting on a shelf. For a lot of brands, we become one of the first places where they can see real customer feedback in real time. What people gravitate toward, what packaging stands out, what flavors resonate, what gets reordered.”

The Brooklyn store, which Krupa describes as a "showroom," is built to accelerate exactly that kind of learning. Under 700 square feet, it is intentionally compact, she explains, which keeps staff in constant contact with customers.

"We're asking questions, hearing what people are craving, learning what flavors or formats resonate, and building real relationships with our regulars," she says. “That gives us a level of insight that's hard to get from spreadsheets or trend reports alone.”

From Retail Shelf to Hotel Minibar

Beyond its stores, The Goods Mart runs a hospitality and corporate curation business that now places emerging brands inside hotels and offices across the country. The company curates snack and pantry assortments for properties including the Fifth Avenue Hotel and the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, as well as corporate clients like OpenAI's New York office.

The vertical grew out of a single pandemic-era project, when a friend opening Wildflower Farms approached Krupa about curating hotel minibars with New York-based, farm-to-table brands.

"That project really sparked something for me," she says. “I realized the hospitality and corporate space could further strengthen our mission of getting emerging brands into the hands of more people.”

The placement logic differs meaningfully from traditional retail. "In a store, products are surrounded by hundreds of other items. But in a hotel minibar or curated office pantry, the assortment is much tighter and more intentional, so brands tend to get more attention and discovery," Krupa explains. “Hotels especially are such personal spaces. You come back to your room late at night, you're watching a movie, you're hungry, and that snack becomes part of the experience.”

Why The Goods Mart Keeps Prices Affordable

At the Brooklyn location, drip coffee costs $2 and most snacks are priced under $2, a deliberate choice in a market where grocery prices keep climbing. The USDA’s Economic Research Service reports food-at-home prices rose 2.3% in 2025, and 69% of consumers say they are shopping sales and coupons more frequently. Krupa's response is to hold the line.

"My philosophy has always been more about what someone should pay versus what they will pay," she says. “The goal is building long-term trust and repeat visits. We want people coming into The Goods Mart every day, not just treating it like a special occasion stop.”

What the Rise of Small-Format Retail Means for Convenience Stores

Krupa believes small-format, curated retail is not a passing trend but a structural shift in how consumers want to shop and connect. The National Retail Federation found that 62% of consumers want to shop at small businesses in their community and 47% of consumers globally identify locally owned companies as an important factor in their purchasing decisions.

"Consumers are craving more human connection again," Krupa says. “They want places where someone remembers their name, where there's conversation, discovery, and a sense of community. Small-format neighborhood stores naturally create that in a way larger retail and screens just can't.”

Eight years in, Krupa who once described her ambition as building "a better-for-you 7-Eleven" has proven the concept holds. "I've always viewed convenience stores as neighborhood hubs," she says. "That part feels very exciting to me."