Perth supermarket compared to boutique Los Angeles store

A boutique Australian supermarket has been compared to the popular Erewhon supermarket in Los Angeles.

A boutique Australian supermarket has been compared to the popular Erewhon supermarket in Los Angeles.

The Boatshed Market, in Perth, was initially a boat-building facility before it was turned into the supermarket in 1988.

Mils, who goes by @wholesome.mils on TikTok, declared she’d found the “Erewhon of Australia”.

“Except, I think it might be better,” Mils declared.

Erewhon is known for it’s hot food bar and “Hailey Bieber” smoothie.

Mils said Erewhon was the “bougiest” supermarket and the Boatshed Market might be the closest thing she’s found to it.

An Australian supermarket has been compared to Erewhon. Picture: TikTok/@wholesome.mils

“They even have a hot counter, just like Erewhon. They rotate the menu every single day,” she said.

She isn’t the only one to compare it to the supermarket, with a popular community page also comparing it to Erewhon.

Oscar Palandri said people “hadn’t lived” unless they’d been to Boatshed Market. He said the fruit and vegetables were the reason people came. However, he also pointed out the fishmonger, bakery, hot food selection and cheese selection as reasons to visit.
Craig Skead co-owns the supermarket, which was connected to the famous Australia II racing yacht, with Michael Pember.

Mr Skead moved to Australia from South Africa in 2000, coming from a supermarket background. That’s when he stumbled upon the Boatshed Market. He said back then it was “stuck in a grower’s market” where everyone owned a piece of it.

It even has a hot food counter. Picture: TikTok/@wholesome.mils

“I said to my wife, ‘I think this is the one I want to own’,” he said. Mr Pember was one of the owners and stayed on with Mr Skead.

He said at the time American supermarkets were “quite advanced” compared to Australia, so they spent a lot of time in the US to analyse different businesses.

Now, all the businesses are under one roof. There is a fishmonger, a butcher shop, aisles filled with health drinks, a cheese shop, fresh fruit and vegetables and a hot food counter.

Mr Skead told news.com.au said he had been to Erewhon a number of times, saying when the concept started they wanted to check it out.

“I think what we realised quite early on, we needed to keep our business fresh in terms of staff and management, including younger people, to understand that part of the market,” he said.

Mils wasn't the only one to make the comparison. Picture: TikTok/@perthisok.local

It contains a whole cheese selection. Picture: TikTok/@oscarpalandri

“What you see at the Boatshed — it doesn’t really come from me. We have team of 170 people.”

He said the people who specialised in each section were the reason it looked the way it did.

Boatshed Market isn’t only a supermarket. In 2017, the Wine Loft was opened up. Now, the business is working on opening a Japanese restaurant within the month. The project has been in the works in 2018.

“We’re about three weeks away from opening,” he revealed.

“We’re very fortunate that we can buy and sell and share really great Australian products. Our seafood is predominantly from Western Australia — just not our salmon and oysters.

“We’re quite fanatical about local ingredients and showcasing that to our customers. We do have some international grocery items like chocolates from the UK.”

Originally published as Perth supermarket compared to boutique Los Angeles store