An Australian tourist was left floored after visiting an iconic Los Angeles supermarket that sold bottles of water for a whopping $40.
Brisbane model Alicja Marszalek is currently in the US and decided to visit the famous Erewhon supermarket in Beverly Hills, which is described as an “upscale health food store” that features “organic, local and sustainable groceries and prepared fare”.
The picture perfect supermarket appears sparkling clean and has colourful fruit and vegetables lined up for shoppers to choose from.
But one of the most shocking finds for Alicja was a bottle of water with a price tag of $US26 – which is $A39.
The store also sells smoothies for $US25, which is around $A38.
“The time has come, I’m in LA and I’m going to Erewhon’s for the first time,” she said in a TikTok video.
“It’s giving rich. People really were not lying when they said the fruit and vegetables were set up symmetrical.
“Why does it look perfect? It actually makes me uncomfy. Nah, this is not right.
“Not the edamame beans being perfectly positioned. Everything is so perfect.
“The $US26 [$A39] water. The sushi is $US20 [$A30]. There is even a whole private elevator going on.
“Here’s the juices. I love the colour variety.”
People in the comments were divided with their thoughts on the supermarket.
While many said it was “outrageously expensive”, others loved that this was an option and wished they had stores like this in Australia.
“If you don’t want to pay those prices, you don’t have to shop there, simple!” one person wrote.
“It’s not going to be for everyone. But I love that this is an option,” said another.
“I went there at the beginning of last year,” another wrote. “If only they brought Erewhon to Australia! There was a wide variety of things I would definitely want at home.”
“Erewhon is my fave place in LA. I wish our health food places were like this!” someone else said.
The supermarket also sells $US25 ($A38) smoothies, $US12 ($A18) kale chips. and $US10 ($A15) matcha lattes.
This is not the first time Australian tourists have been baffled by things they have stumbled upon while holidaying in America.
Businesswoman Ali Clarke was introducing her brand Bondi Blades into the US market when she went shopping at a CVS pharmacy.
The mum was “shocked” at some of the things she found and the unique details of the store.
“Today I had my first American pharmacy experience, and let me tell you, it was such an eye-opener,” she said.
“So many cosmetic brands and so many mini samples of things that you can try.
“But the thing I found the most strange, was that basic things like haircare and body wash were all locked up.
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“You would literally have to press a button for customer service to come and help you get these products out.”
In the video, the Aussie mum panned across an aisle full of shower gels, body lotions, hair products and skin care, which were all locked up inside a glass cabinet.
A spokesperson for US pharmacy Walgreens said in a statement regarding its use of locked glass cabinets that the move was “pretty simple – we lock things up to avoid theft”.
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