XMarket, the ‘Vegan Amazon,’ Opens a Grocery Store in San Diego

San Diego is now home to a vegan grocery store. Dubbed the “vegan Amazon,” XMarket—formerly known as PlantX—just opened its third location.

Located in the Hillcrest neighborhood, the 4,500 square foot deli and bodega concept carries a wide variety of fair-trade and organic plant-based products. Items include frozen foods, pantry staples, personal hygiene and household products, an assortment of snacks, as well as beer and wine.

The deli offers freshly prepared foods like carrot lox bagels and sandwiches. Customers can also opt for ready-to-eat meals on-the-go, such as marinated tofu, eggless quiche, and chickpea tuna salad.

XMarket was born out of a partnership and acquisition between Chef Matthew Kenney and PlantX, an online marketplace founded by vegan entrepreneur Sean Dollinger in February 2020. PlantX stocks plant-based grocery items on its website. It also offers meal delivery options, house plants, recipes, and even a vegan restaurant locator.

As part of the acquisition, PlantX acquired New Deli, a vegan marketplace that Kenney opened in 2019. PlantX took over the Venice, California New Deli location in April, relaunching it as XMarket.

According to Kenney, the goal of the partnership is to “educate and provide more people access to a plant-based lifestyle. “Along with our retail and ecommerce initiatives, we are committed to investing in and developing innovative products that bring a sustainable and healthful change to the culinary landscape,” he explained.

PlantX plans to expand to reach a wider audience, making plant-based foods more accessible to all. “Our next location will be in Tel Aviv, Israel, and after that we have two locations opening up inside the Hudson Bay stores in Ottawa (Rideau), and Toronto (Yorkdale),” Alex Hoffman, PlantX’s CMO, said. “A few other locations are on our radar, but nothing finalized yet.”

PlantX Canada

PlantX opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Canada in May 2021.

Located in British Columbia, the Squamish Flagship Location—which is nestled in a town just north of Vancouver—features a variety of plant-based grocery and wellness products. According to the company, the 1,700 square foot store will help accelerate its efforts to “cultivate connections between plant-based vendors and customers around the world.”

In January of this year, PlantX also acquired PlantX Living Squamish Inc.—formerly called Score Enterprises Ltd. The 15,000-square-foot commercial space encompasses dining venues, including the Locavore Bar & Grill, Cloudburst Café, and Locavore Food Truck.

The Canadian store features a vertical garden where herbs and leafy greens are grown. PlantX will use the herbs and greens to make plant-based meals for the Locavore Bar & Grill.