'Bodega' App Aims To Replace Stores With Vending Machines

NEW YORK, NY — A start-up company called "Bodega" has the aim of putting the long-suffering New York City grocery staple of the same name out of business.

The brainchild of a pair of Silicon Valley Google veterans, they're planning to open 1,000 glorified vending machines across the country offering all the things the corner store offers – without needing any contact with actual humans, business publication Fast Company first reported. (For more neighborhood stories like this, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Paul McDonald and Ashwath Rajan launched their startup Wednesday with 50 "locations" in the San Fransisco area and enough venture capital money to inspire dreams of nationwide expansion, according to the report. They plan 1,000 locations by the end of next year.

So how does "Bodega" work? You won't believe how sophisticated the technology is.

"Bodega sets up five-foot-wide pantry boxes filled with non-perishable items you might pick up at a convenience store. An app will allow you to unlock the box and cameras powered with computer vision will register what you’ve picked up, automatically charging your credit card. The entire process happens without a person actually manning the 'store.'" Fast Company writes.

A box that sells products without people involved. The world will never be the same. If you find yourself wondering whether "Bodega" isn't just a vending machine that can spy on you — you're dead wrong. It's curated!

"Each community tends to have relatively homogenous tastes, given that they live or work in the same place," McDonald told Fast Company. "By studying their buying behavior, we’re hoping to eventually figure out how the needs of people in one apartment building differ from those in another. We could customize the items in one dorm versus the next."

To top it off, the "Bodega" crew used the silhouette of a cat as its company logo. It's a gutsy move for a company trying to make real bodegas — the only businesses where a cat can find regular work these days — obsolete.

Needless to say, people were not pleased with the new startup. People took to social media to mock the business and blast its goal of replacing small businesses which can serve as neighborhood lifelines and are often owned and operated immigrants — all while appropriating the name "Bodega."

The social media backlash spurred "Bodega" founder Paul McDonald to pen an apologetic blog post on Medium. McDonald insisted that the company's goal is not to put corner stores out of business, and naming the company "Bodega" was done out of admiration, rather than appropriation.

And, of course, McDonald apologized to "anyone we’ve offended."

See some of the best social media reactions below:

Read the Fast Company's full "Bodega" profile here.

Photo by Paul Lowry via Flickr/Creative Commons