Curated Convenience: Inside The Goods Mart's Retail Model | Rachel Krupa, The Goods Mart

On this episode, we're joined by Rachel Krupa, Founder of The Goods Mart, the better-for-you convenience store that's reimagining what a 7-Eleven can be. Rachel is also the founder of Krupa Consulting, the CPG and wellness PR agency she's run since 2010, working with brands like Thrive Market, Our Place, and Goop Kitchen.We dig into how Rachel went from running her PR agency to opening a convenience store after founders kept telling her they had no strategy for the convenience channel and The Goods Mart's core bet: a tightly curated shelf of better-for-you brands, no GMOs, no artificial colors or flavors, and accessible pricing so the store never feels precious.Rachel walks through what she actually looks for in a brand, the packaging iterations every product goes through before it scales, and why a small-format store surfaces feedback that velocity numbers alone can't.We also get into the curation business that now drives much of The Goods Mart, placing emerging brands in hotel minibars and corporate pantries for clients like the Fifth Avenue Hotel, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, and OpenAI New York. Rachel shares her honest take on fundraising, her grocery consulting work, and the brands she can't stop watching.---------------Episode Highlights:🏪 From PR agency to convenience store🥫 The better-for-you gap in convenience retail🎨 Brand pillars and the case for curation🛠️ Building the first store with no playbook☕ Accessible pricing and $2 coffee🚫 Why The Goods Mart charges no slotting fees💸 Getting creative with revenue instead📦 The packaging iterations every brand faces📊 Small-format stores and real-time customer data🏨 Curating hotel minibars and corporate pantries🏬 Consulting on grocery concepts like Flow Grocer👀 The flat drinks and gummies she's watching---------------Table of Contents:00:00 – Intro00:51 – Origin story: from PR to convenience store02:55 – Brand pillars and the case for curation04:49 – Building the first Silver Lake store06:38 – Accessible pricing and everyday value07:48 – Being first to carry emerging brands08:37 – Why The Goods Mart charges no slotting fees10:58 – The financial model without slotting fees12:14 – The curation vertical and COVID pivot13:50 – Small-format stores and real-time data16:15 – What brands need buttoned up before pitching18:56 – Why it's not a shoppy shop20:19 – Everyday low price over promotions22:08 – The new Williamsburg flagship24:15 – Operating in LA vs New York25:34 – Hotel minibars and corporate pantries29:17 – Fundraising and consulting for grocers31:08 – Brands and trends she's watching---------------Links:The Goods Mart – https://www.thegoodsmart.com/Krupa Consulting – https://www.krupaconsulting.com/Follow Rachel on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkrupa/Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.