The ground floor of the May Co. parking structure

The ground floor of the May Co. parking structure

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Erewhon Market Coming to Building Near LA Fashion District

Are you ready for a food fight?

Downtown Los Angeles used to be a desert for grocery stores. Now they are starting to pop up not far from the LA Fashion District.

Ten years ago, Ralph's Fresh Fare was the downtown pioneer followed by Smart & Final and then Whole Foods Market. Now, according to commercial real estate broker Brigham Yen, Erewhon Market is taking over a 12,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of the historic May Co. parking structure at Ninth and Hill streets.

The corner spot used to be occupied by the Austere showroom, opened in 2014 to sell high-end, Nordic-style goods, but that only lasted a few years.

Now Erewhon is piling into the food scene, not far from residential spots like the Columbia Eastern condos at Broadway and Ninth and the Ace Hotel. Estimates are that it will be at least a year before the new Erewhon Market opens up.

It already has a long-established post on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles as well as locations in Venice and Calabasas. A new Erewhon is scheduled to open next year in Santa Monica.