In-Store Experience: Inside XMarket

PlantX Life, a Canadian plant-based food and lifestyle startup that also operates an e-commerce platform, officially debuted its XMarket retail concept this past July in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood after quietly opening months prior with order fulfillment. It is PlantX’s second store in the U.S. and sixth location globally.

The Path to Purchase Institute visited the 6,000-square-foot vegan bodega, which was rebranded from a Peter Rubi grocery store after being acquired by PlantX. Located at the floor level of a high-rise apartment complex, the store sells only plant-based products and employs few associates.

At the time of our visit, the store was under construction, notably reducing the size of the retail area. The store’s product assortment includes pantry items, packaged home goods like cleaning supplies, health and wellness products such as protein powders, a liquor assortment, and refrigerated beverage and food items via multiple cooler displays.

One entrance was closed due to construction, so all shoppers entered through a side door to find one associate-assisted checkout lane next to two self-checkout lanes in the front of the store. (Another two are located in the back.) A four-way display near the checkout stocks individual impulse-buy and grab-and-go options, including snacks and candles. 

Behind the checkout area, the store offers a self-serve vegan ice cream machine next to a rack of boxes doling out single packages of chocolate candies on one side. On the other side, a small section of freezers stocks frozen goods.

A few aisles stock dry goods, and include endcaps dedicated to product categories, such as teas and coffee as well as pasta sauces.

In the back, a long, refrigerated wall display features vegan milk brands and a wide array of individual beverage options, such as Kombucha and unique wellness drinks from emerging brands.

While the store is full of national brand products, there wasn’t much branded marketing activity — at least not yet. We spotted a single wall display comprising case stacks and individual cartons of Just Water, affixed with two paper signs touting a slightly lower price than at other stores.

While PlantX is hoping to expand the XMarket footprint in the U.S. in the future, this location is also growing. A store associate told us the idea is to keep the retail market portion small — with the addition of a plant-based meat counter in partnership with Very Good Butchers — and to build a food hall on the other side with permanent vendors, 300+ seats and a full-service bar.