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Former Google Execs Automate Corner Store With App-Activated Bodegas

SAN FRANCISCO -- Two former Google employees are making headlines and stirring up controversy with a startup concept that automates the corner store. But their idea, called Bodega, has been met by criticism for going head to head with true mom-and-pop "bodegas," a term used for corner stores usually owned or run by immigrants in American cities. The startup's 5-ft.-wide "pantry boxes" are filled with a selection of the non-perishable items people would find at a neighborhood convenience store. Patr...

September 18, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO -- Two former Google employees are making headlines and stirring up controversy with a startup concept that automates the corner store. But their idea, called Bodega, has been met by criticism for going head to head with true mom-and-pop "bodegas," a term used for corner stores usually owned or run by immigrants in American cities. 

The startup's 5-ft.-wide "pantry boxes" are filled with a selection of the non-perishable items people would find at a neighborhood convenience store. Patrons access the automated Bodegas using an app that charges their credit cards if they remove something from the box. 

A Bodega employee refills the boxes as items are purchased. Each Bodega is tailored with the 100 most-needed and popular items in that community.

Bodega founders Paul McDonald and Ashwath Rajan say they have installed the boxes in 30 locations -- apartment buildings, dorms and gyms -- in the San Francisco Bay area. They say they have more than $2.5 million in funding so far and plan to expand to more than 1,000 locations by the end of next year.

McDonald said on Bodega's blog that he hopes their new retail concept won't take business from local stores, but rather deliver convenience items where "commerce currently doesn't exist."

Bodega's founders first talked about their concept in a profile in Fast Company.