Topics: Celebrity, Food and Drink, Hailey Bieber, Health, Life, Social Media, US News
When you think of Erewhon, the first thing that comes to mind is the famous $20 celebrity-endorsed smoothies in every colour of the rainbow.
But for those who have no idea what we're talking about and are simply thinking 'What does this strange word mean?,' it's actually a luxury grocery outlet in LA.
With a focus on wellness and health, the American store's shelves are filled with a concoction of products, ranging from marbled sourdough to jars of sea moss gel - not your average Tesco, that's for sure.
In recent years, Erewhon has become a viral social media sensation, with people rushing to get their hands on the latest TikTok-famous food or drink at one of the eleven locations, all in California.
Advert
The supermarket even boasts a drink concocted by Rhode founder Hailey Bieber herself, the $17 Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie, which is loaded with collagen to get your skin looking glowy.
However, despite the 'clean girl' look of the store, there is actually shockingly dark meaning behind the name that you would never guess.
The name Erewhon is difficult enough to pronounce already, before we throw in a hidden meaning to wrap your head around.
First of all, people were convinced it's simply an anagram of the word 'nowhere'.
While this is true, it actually got it's name from the 1872 satirical novel, Erewhon, by Samuel Butler.
The dystopian story dreams up a fictional society where illness is treated as crime and crime is treated as illness, a scathing commentary about obsessive fixation on health.
As reported by Lit Hub, the store’s co-founder Aveline Yokoyama named it after the novel because it was the favorite book of her mentor - George Ohsawa.
In the book, falling ill is a 'highly criminal and immoral' offence and the punishment is a 'long term of imprisonment with hard labour'.
With Los Angeles known for its fitness and health-conscious culture, this makes for a very interesting and surprisingly dark name for a wellness grocery store.
Of course, the book is satirical with the aim of provoking thought rather than action, and the store name likely has the same intention, as well as giving people a laugh when they find out the meaning.
Reacting to this little-known fact on Twitter, one user wrote: "Had no idea Erewhon was named after a book."
While a second added: "Erewhon, in addition to being an LA grocery store or whatever, is a satire on Victorian society & the first book to explore the possibility that machines might develop consciousness by natural selection."
And a third penned: "The other day I learned the name of the fancy grocery store Erewhon is taken from the book of the same name by Samuel Butler."
"I can't take that Erewhon place seriously because of the book of the same name," wrote another.
So, keep that in mind next time you go to pick up some $19 strawberries or a bottle of camel milk!
