Barb and Peter were excellent servers. They were fast, efficient, and tidy. They were patient as I scanned the menu, deciding what to get. They didn’t try to upsell me. And they delivered my order gracefully and with care.
Barb and Peter are a pair of robotic arms that work at VenHub, a 24/7, fully automated convenience store that opened four locations in Los Angeles this year. The store is run without any humans; instead, it relies on the robotic arms to pick up items and hand them over to customers. It sells the kinds of things you’d expect from a convenience store: chips, soft drinks, basic medicines, and small electronics, with inventory varying by location.
A representative for VenHub said its stores directly address several challenges facing retail, including high labor costs, staffing shortages, theft, limited operating hours, and high overhead.
While it has some corporate-owned stores, VenHub also sells its physical “Smart Stores” to entrepreneurs and large brands starting at a base cost of about $250,000. It’s not a franchise model; Store owners can choose how to brand their store and what inventory to carry. However, owners pay VenHub a monthly fee of $2,500 to cover software services.
The stores use artificial intelligence to identify products, optimize inventory based on seasonality, weather, and local demand, and refine product placement through behavioral learning.
“The platform is designed to serve underserved neighbourhoods, gated communities, and high-traffic areas, while giving entrepreneurs and brands a faster, lower-cost way to launch stores,” the VenHub representative said.
Buying from the store was easy and fun
I visited a location on Verdugo Road in the Montrose area of Glendale, a Los Angeles suburb, at around noon on a Wednesday to see Barb and Peter in action. The convenience store was a large rectangular box 22 feet wide, 10 feet deep, and 10 feet tall — almost reminiscent of a shipping container — placed right near the sidewalk.
The storefront was mostly windows, displaying the available products and the robotic arms lying in wait. I realized there was no visible door and no way for me to enter, so I looked for a screen interface outside the building, assuming that’s what I would use to order.
Instead, there was a sign with a QR code, and I was required to download the VenHub app and make an account in order to place an order. Not ideal, but also not bad considering after your first visit, you’d already have that good to go.
It only took a few moments, and then I found myself exploring the app, which has an interface similar to food delivery apps. You can browse for products by category or search for a specific term or item. I added a bottle of Fiji water to my cart and a can of Pringles and checked out using Apple Pay, which made it seamless.
As soon as the payment went through, Barb and Peter sprang into action.
I peered through the windows as one of the fridge doors slid open, and Peter swung toward it and waited. Once open, the robot reached down to the water bottles and grabbed the Fiji water from the line, using its two-finger grip. Then it swung back around and slid parallel down the store, stopping in front of an area labeled “2” and placing the water bottle down before retreating back to its resting point.
Barbara, meanwhile, had been on a recovery mission of her own and was patiently waiting in front of the area where she picked up the can of Pringles. Once Peter was out of the way, Barbara slid over in front of the same drop-off area and placed the chips before retreating to her resting point, too.
The app notified me I could pick up my order at bin number two. When I indicated I was there, the door for bin two opened up, revealing my items. The app said I had 30 seconds to collect my order before the delivery bin closed automatically.
I placed another order just to test it out again. The whole experience was fast and easy, and I was impressed with how quickly and gracefully the robots picked up and dropped off my items.
VenHub stores make sense in walkable areas
In some ways, the VenHub store felt like a gigantic vending machine — but with much more variety and the ability to handle a wider array of items in many different shapes and sizes.
The range of products you could buy included Monster energy drinks, Fancy Feast cat food, a box of Band-Aids, a bottle of ranch, or $19.99 wireless earbuds.
While ordering items through an app requires a little bit of upfront effort the first time you order, it adds to the convenience in follow-up orders. I don’t live super close to a VenHub — the other locations are in Hollywood, North Hollywood, and at the LAX Metro Transit center — but if I did, I could see myself using it.
“These locations have been strategically placed in high-traffic areas, generating strong customer engagement and visibility,” the VenHub representative said, adding that the company plans to expand to the rest of the country as well as internationally.
Some people will likely find popping into a traditional convenience store and simply grabbing what they want easier than ordering from an app. But for others, especially in walkable areas, VenHub’s locations right on the sidewalk could be a draw. Folks can place orders before they leave their house or as they’re walking over, and simply grab their goods without having to go inside a store.
I especially see the value in a location like Hollywood, where people are out at all times of the day and night, and may want to place a quick order on their phone to grab a snack when leaving a bar before hopping in an Uber home.
And the stores being open 24/7 means that even if everything else is closed, Barb and Peter will still be there, waiting, alert, and ready to serve.
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