This startup wants to replace the neighborhood bodega, and people aren't happy

Bodega.
(Image credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

A new startup could give beloved neighborhood bodegas a run for their money.

Former Google employees Paul McDonald and Ashwath Rajan have developed a concept called Bodega, which stocks corner store goods without the corner store charm. The items are displayed in glass pantry boxes, akin to vending machines, which are set up in apartments, gyms, college dorms, and offices. Each case carries different products, depending on what the company has assessed to be the most popular items in that particular community. "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."

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