Q&A

Your store can be the place customers find what's next

How The Goods Mart built a discovery experience that larger retailers can't replicate

(Image courtesy Rachel Krupa)

Just because something is convenient doesn’t mean it has to be generic. Rachel Krupa, founder of longtime food and wellness brand P.R. agency Krupa Consulting, helped put better-for-you snacks like Brownie Brittle in the spotlight. At the same time, she noticed that no one was rethinking the convenience store experience for Gen X and Millennials who craved alternative brands. So she opened The Goods Mart, “a better-for-you 7-Eleven,” in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood in 2018.

Eight years later, The Goods Mart is set to open a New York location in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in mid-May. Along with its physical and online store, the brand comprises a curation vertical, selecting and distributing snacks across hotel minibars and corporate pantries at more than 70 locations.

Here, Krupa discusses how she leans into discovery and storytelling to bring new-to-market brands to her customers, and how she manages buying, pricing and stocking inventory in a fickle supply chain climate.

—Interview by Marcy Medina, edited by Bianca Prieto

How do you adjust your buying strategy for a customer who shops differently now?

Our strategy is a little different because we focus on emerging brands. We’re always looking for “what’s next,” but also going deep on the founder’s story, the taste and whether it has the potential to become someone’s next obsession.

We think a lot about timing: Will this resonate with our customers right now, or is it something they’ll grow into over the next few years? And sometimes the question is, “Is the brand too early? Too innovative for where the customer is today?” Because many of the brands we carry are early, we’re often one of their first retail partners. It gives them space to work out the kinks, get real feedback and build something that can scale. For us, it’s always a balance of what feels immediate and what has longer-term potential.

How do you make inventory decisions when costs are unpredictable?

We work mostly directly with brands, so there’s a close dialogue. Especially now with our curation vertical, where we curate and distribute snacks across hotel minibars and corporate pantries, our clients rely on consistency, so we’re constantly talking through supply chain, timing and availability.

For the store, it’s a bit different. We know emerging brands will have hiccups; that’s part of it. But because we’re built around discovery, we have flexibility. If something goes out of stock, we can bring in something new, often something our customers haven’t seen before. So instead of overextending on inventory, we stay nimble, keep communication tight, and use curation as our advantage.

How do you price your products when your costs keep changing?

We work with a blended margin, and because we buy direct, we communicate extensively with our brands. When costs shift, whether it’s tariffs or the supply chain, they’re usually very upfront with us, so we can adjust accordingly. We’re also fortunate to have a small footprint–our new store will be just 600 square feet–so our in-store team can talk to customers and explain what’s going on as they shop. That human touch matters.

At the end of the day, we try to be honest and transparent. Most of these changes are outside of a retailer’s control, and no one wants to raise prices, but sometimes it’s necessary to keep everything moving. We all rely on each other, so when something shifts, it doesn’t just impact one brand; it affects the entire ecosystem.

How do you evaluate and exit a supplier relationship that isn't working anymore?

For us, it’s less about cutting a brand and more about whether it’s moving since we have a small store and every product counts. Before we ever end a relationship, we try really hard to make it work. Sometimes it’s as simple as moving the product within the store to see if it performs better in a different spot. There are also times when a brand is just too early. In those cases, we’re honest. We’ll tell them it might not be the right moment, but that we still believe in what they’re building. We also put a big emphasis on real customer feedback and share that directly with the brand. Our customers are honest—they’ll tell us if something needs more salt, if the sweetener isn’t landing or if the packaging is confusing. That kind of feedback is rare, and it can be incredibly valuable. We really try to give a brand every opportunity before it leaves the shelf.

How do you compete on customer experience and price?

Because we’re often one of the first retailers these brands are in and we work directly with them, our assortment is different. Most larger retailers don’t have what we have. So, we are competitively priced, but that’s not the main way we compete. We win on discovery and experience. There’s a point of view behind everything on the shelf.

We also lean hard into education. Our team knows the products, can talk to customers and help them find something new they will LOVE. That combination, curation, access and IRL interaction, is what makes it sustainable for us.

The SKUpe's Take
Working with emerging brands can have its challenges, but the trade-off is being a discovery destination for your customers as well as a place to get IRL feedback from customers that can also help strengthen your vendor relationships.