Good Food
With a 7th Organic Avenue, Denise Mari is on a mission to make juice a lifestyle
Now that Organic Avenue founder Denise Mari is set to open her seventh New York City location (this one will be on the Upper West Side), it’s increasingly clear that Organic Avenue’s mission is not just to expand its a la carte juice sales into every neighborhood, but to become a holistic lifestyle company. That’s a first on the competitive juice-and-cleanse scene.
Denise Mari, the Juice World's Martha Stewart
With the opening of the Space of LOVE (an acronym for Live, Organic, Vegan, Experience) in early 2010, the brand had a legitimate 4,000-square-foot flagship. Mari set about busily stocking a huge array of juices, as well as raw food snacks, pantry essentials for vegans, and conscious skin care like Dr. Alkaitis.
She was no longer carrying the clothing and kitchen items that the first OA had, but clearly Mari sees herself as the juice world’s Martha Stewart—a creator and curator.
Now, after launching a half dozen locations, and admittedly experiencing some growing pains, Mari is ready for Organic Avenue to reclaim its roots as an “organic general store.”
As Mari says, “The goal is to make people transition to and support this lifestyle, and if we can make it interesting and accessible that will happen.” Part of that process is a growing selection of products, says Mari, who has added supplements and more beauty product lines like Tata Harper. “It’s a lifestyle experience, so home and clothes will also come into play as we evolve.”
But does every New York neighborhood really need an Organic Avenue juice or lifestyle store? “We’re not a store people come to once a week or once a month, but every day. Sometimes more than once a day,” says Mari of her decision. “And we want to serve them the best quality.”
Organic Avenue's sixth Manhattan location in Midtown East
Supposing enough New Yorkers are willing to lay out for OA’s pricy health tonics, then there’s the trademark bad service. Regulars complained purchasing a $12 or $14 pre-made juice shouldn’t take longer than a made-to-order latte. (In our experience, OA employees enjoy talking to each other more than they enjoy taking care of customers.) And the $2 bottle deposit can be infuriating.
Now Mari has made customer service a priority and is trying to do away with the members-only vibe. The staff has undergone further training, and specific roles from director of retail operations to customer service manager have been created. Mari admits, “There was a disconnect there and we needed to add a layer of management. We are hearing more praises, which means it’s working.”
The jury’s still out on whether Mari can turn her Lower East Side insider outpost into a lifestyle brand. But if the number of bright orange Organic Avenue bags we see around town are any indication, her green-juice revolution is working. —Alia Akkam
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I can say from my experience in the last month, I am somewhat of an Organic Avenue groupie. With the health issues of Americans at large, we should all be taking a look at this. I find the staff extremely helpful.
The first day of my 3 day cleanse I thought it was really difficult. But I made it to the second day and then the 3rd and then I wanted to keep it up. I will say the prices are high but after a Thanksgiving, I went back to juicing this weekend and it is amazing how accustomed I have grown to this loving this juices and how good it feels to drink them now (minus coconut. I loathe coconut!)
I’m glad you commented that the staff don’t generally care about customers. I do believe this has improved. I don’t go in that often, but I went in once and felt like garbage. Just because I’m overweight and have questions, that doesn’t mean I should be treated like a hobo. I wrote in complaining, as the email customer service is always very good, so it does seem they’re working on improving the in-store experience.
There is still an element of “holier than thou” which I don’t care for, but I’ll suck it up to get a product I’m looking for.
I have never found the service at OA to be ‘lackluster’. The staff are warm and ‘down to earth’, and because they are allowed to be themselves they enjoy working at OA. Please lets leave ‘hyper fake service’ out of OA.
Jane
Australia
The staff can be a little unusual but they always know the answers to questions and all of the ones I have encounter seem genuinely engaged with the products. The juices are amazing. I wish there was one on every corner.
I have never had a problem with the customer service at Organic Avenue. In fact, it is one of the reasons that I keep going back there.
While I understand other people may have had a different experience there, I found this article to be unusually harsh.
I didn’t think that Well + Good represented this type of negative writing. Maybe I am wrong.
Also, Organic Avenue provides a very valuable service to New Yorkers – pressed organic juice in glass bottles. No other juice place uses glass bottles to go. Plastic bottles are hormone disruptors.
I am a huge fan of cleansing, and I applaud the fact that more and more people are realizing its health benefits. My only problem is that these over-priced juices make it seem as if health was the privilege of the wealthy. I mean, let’s face it, if you’re willing to pay 300 bucks for juice that will last you 3 days, chances are you are probably already a health-junkie.
You wanna do something good for your body? Try eating apples only for one day. When you’re comfortable doing that, try drinking only pressed juices or smoothies (made of veggies or fruits only) for 1-2 days. Both your body and your wallet will be thankful!
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