XMarket, San Diego: PlantX Opens First Grocery Store in the US

PlantX – the plant-based e-commerce platform – has opened its first brick-and-mortar store in the US. Named XMarket, the vegan grocery store is based in Hillcrest, San Diego, and was born from the recent partnership between Chef Matthew Kenney and PlantX.

The 4,500 square foot XMarket location includes a plant-based retail store, a state-of-the-art café and sandwich shop, and a plant-based education center. The retail store showcases a wide variety of plant-based items and aims to increase public engagement by offering an interactive shopping experience.

Founded by vegan entrepreneur Sean Dollinger, the Canadian plant-based e-commerce platform PlantX appointed Matthew Kenney as its Chief Culinary Officer this year, with the deal including a five-year partnership with the vegan chef’s global plant-based lifestyle brand, which prepares all the food in the XMarket café section.

New XMarket Locations

The flagship XMarket store opened in May 2021 in Squamish, British Columbia, with the next location set to be in Tel Aviv, Israel, followed by two locations in Ottawa and Toronto coming soon. Last week’s grand opening at the new Hillcrest, San Diego XMarket location saw locals enjoy the new space as well as free samples from alt meat leader Beyond Meat.

“The grand opening event celebrating our XMarket store in Hillcrest is yet another opportunity to increase our company’s profile,” stated PlantX Founder Sean Dollinger ahead of the event. “We are proud of our presence in Hillcrest, and we are eager to serve the local community and enjoy the opening festivities with them.”