Two Ex-Google Employees Want to Kill Our Bodegas

Two google veterans are developing an app that could see the end of our famous New York City bodegas. In what way does the app complete with a bodega? In a word, convenience.

There are few things as ubiquitous in New York City as the humble bodega (…except for maybe pizza munching rats and subway delays). Two ex-employees of the tech giant, Google, want to change that all that with an app.

To add insult to injury the name of the app is “Bodega” …and their logo is a cat. Triggered.

Bodega aims to install “tiny stores” that look like pantry boxes in offices, dorms, gyms, and apartments then allow people to access the goods inside using an app on your mobile device. See it in action in this video.

In a recent blog post the lay out their rationale:

Corner stores in places like NYC are a model for this — they’re on nearly every block and serve their local neighborhoods 24/7. We’re trying to use technology to bring some of that same ease and convenience to everyone by putting tiny stores right where people live and work.

The project is the brainchild of Paul McDonald, a 13-year Google product manager, and fellow veteran Ashwath Rajan. Their initiative will fill these widely distributed pantries with everyday non-perishable items, then you use the app you unlock it and cameras track your purchase and automatically charge your credit card. Think “vending machine” meets “convenience store.”

As we speak “Bogeda” has their boxes on the west coast in over 30 locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Before you come to NYC, you should know, you’ll have to pry our bodegas from our cold dead hands …also, there’s no room in those cupboards for a cat.