Meadow Lane will be Nussdorf’s first major opening and marks his official leap into the world of gourmet groceries. Before this chapter, he worked in venture capital for about six years, investing in a range of brands, some food-related. Retail, he tells me, is a completely different challenge though.
“I’m honored and humbled that people are this excited for something,” Nussdorf told me when I visited the store at 355 Greenwich Street. “I am super passionate about it, of course,” he added, “but I feel like a lot of people are equally as passionate about it, which is shocking to me.”
An upscale grocer focused on natural produce isn’t exactly a new concept, especially for health-conscious shoppers in major cities. There’s Erewhon, the LA staple founded in 1966 by Michio and Aveline Kushi, where $20 can buy you the “Hailey Bieber smoothie” and likely a few extra TikTok followers. Eataly has great authentic Italian produce and pantry staples at its outposts, located in places like New York, Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles. And at Butterfield Market on the Upper East Side and Bonberi Mart in the West Village, you can stock up on fruit, vegetables, and prepackaged meals, equally delicious with very New York price tags.
But Nussdorf’s timing coincides with a new era of wellness. Functional nutrition is the latest thing for young consumers. From “protein-packed potato chips” to “cognition-enhancing mocktails,” there’s a flurry of new products that target everything from better sleep to gut health, according to McKinsey’s recently released Future of Wellness Survey. The same report says that in the US, UK, and Germany approximately two thirds of Gen Z and millennials say they bought functional-nutrition products last year, and much of what Meadow Lane stocks (matcha from Montauk General Store, speciality oils and vinegars, Sun Elixir juices) sits squarely in that niche.
