An AI-Run Store In San Francisco: A Field Trip to Andon Market

Andon Labs operates a store at the corner of Union and Webster Streets in San Francisco's Cow Hollow neighborhood. I made a field trip last week. The store is run by an AI agent named Luna, built on Anthropic's Claude. Luna chose the products, manages inventory, posted job listings on Indeed, interviewed candidates over Google Meet (camera off), hired staff, and negotiates with suppliers. To complete a purchase, customers pick up a corded phone and talk to Luna directly. There's an irony in that — the AI-run store requires a phone call to close a transaction.

What Struck Me

Walking in, there was no feeling of technology. Think anti-Amazon Go. It's a calm, uncluttered space — a polar opposite of what online retailers are doing with AI right now. No text-based chat. No product recommendations. No requests for personal information to build a profile or personalize the experience. The AI is working entirely behind the scenes.

The one exception: a digital board on the wall displaying the store's financials and Luna's activity in real time. The transparency was notable.

My Take

With roughly 85% of U.S. retail still happening in physical stores, AI's analytical capabilities — for merchandising, inventory, supply chain — have real value for retailers. Whether Andon Market itself is profitable, or ever will be, is a different question. But that may not be the point. They will learn a great deal from this store — and from their AI-managed vending machines, each tasked with generating a profit over a one-year period, testing the agent's ability to manage toward a goal over an extended time horizon.

What draws me to this story is the range of what's being tested: analytics, conversational ability, accuracy, and whether an AI agent can achieve a concrete business goal in the physical world.

(Sources: NBC News, Andon Lab Blog)

I wrote a longer journal type piece that includes photos. Please contact me directly at julie@julieask.com if you'd like a copy.

(NBC News) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqwCm4xorrA

(Andon Lab Blog) https://andonlabs.com/blog/andon-market-launch

Background:

Andon Labs operates an AI-run store at the corner of Union and Webster Streets in San Francisco's Cow Hollow neighborhood. In an NBC interview, co-founders Lukas Petersson and Axel Backlund were candid about their motivation: they wanted to learn what an AI agent could actually do in the real world. So they handed one — an agent named Luna, built on Anthropic's Claude — a corporate credit card, internet access, and a $100,000 budget, then stepped back. Luna chose the products, managed inventory, posted job listings on Indeed, interviewed candidates over Google Meet (camera off), hired staff, and negotiated with suppliers. To complete a purchase, customers pick up a corded phone and talk to Luna directly. There's an irony in that — the AI-run store requires a phone call to close a transaction.