?Bodega? startup wants to reinvent the convenience store
With an internet-connected pantry box A bodega, or small convenience store, can mean many things to an urban community: a beacon of security on late nights, a place to get last-minute laundry quarters or that emergency breakfast sandwich, a familiar face.
But if Silicon Valley were to have its way, a ?bodega? would be a five-foot-wide pantry box, a glorified vending machine hooked up with 2017 ?conveniences? of app-controlled access, automated transactions, and a machine-learning-optimized inventory?no human interaction required. That?s the idea behind new startup Bodega (which has also co-opted the ubiquitous and beloved ?bodega cat? for a logo.)
Bodega boxes are already up and running at 30 locations around the San Francisco Bay Area, offering a selection of non-perishables tailored to the the space?snacks and beverages at offices, detergent and medicine in apartment buildings, for example. And with a fresh round of $2.5 million in funding, it wants to go national, starting with 50 new locations on the West Coast and eventually expanding to more than 1,000 locations by the end of 2018.
Love it or hate it" https://t.co/pZz717GBkJ? Fast Company (@FastCompany) September 13, 2017
Can these boxes really replace the true bodegas people depend on" Curbed NY editor Amy Plitt is not convinced, arguing that real bodegas are not only ?essential neighborhood hubs? but also serve?via cash transactions?folks who don?t have a smartphone or even credit card.
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