PlantX Brings ‘Vegan Bodega’ to Chicago

PlantX Life, a Canadian plant-based food and lifestyle startup that also operates an e-commerce platform, celebrated the official opening of its XMarket retail concept on July 31 in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood after quietly opening months prior. It is PlantX’s second store in the U.S. and sixth globally.

The celebration included a series of festivities with booths and sampling stations from plant-based CPGs and restaurants such as Dreampops, Kitchen 17, Good2Go Veggie and Up-N-Down Burger.

XMarket Uptown will also hold weekly events through the end of 2022.

The 6,000-square-foot supermarket, which was rebranded from a Peter Rubi grocery store after being acquired by PlantX, sells only plant-based products and offers a technologically enabled experience with few store associates. The opening follows a complete revamping of the store's merchandise, installation of a new outdoor sign, and a new management team, according to a news release.

"Our carefully designed XMarket concept brings the vegan lifestyle directly to consumers in Chicago to taste, explore and understand the plant-based lifestyle," said PlantX CEO, Lorne Rapkin, in the release. "XMarket is a vegan bodega, featuring a highly curated selection of the best vegan products available from around the world as well as nearby. Our goal is to make the plant-based lifestyle accessible.”

PlantX says the XMarket concept is designed to educate consumers and to collaborate with likeminded brands on sampling sessions and educational activations.

PlantX's other XMarket locations are Venice Beach in Los Angeles, Tel Aviv (Israel), Toronto (view video below) and Ottawa, Canada, as well as a co-branded location in Plainfield, Illinois.