With a creative blend of specialty and everyday items, this boutique-style market is locally owned and offers an amazing mix of local, specialty and everyday items.
On any given morning at Aspens Market, sun streams through the windows while the intoxicating smell of bacon drifts from the kitchen. At 6 a.m., a chef arrives to whip up 80 hot breakfast sandwiches and burritos, and someone starts brewing 9 gallons of coffee that will quickly be consumed. A little later, six pallets of fresh products arrive at the store to refresh the shelves for the 700 customers who will walk in to shop that day.
The vibe at the store is less power shop and more browsing. Shoppers are here for simple pleasures like picking up coffee and a newspaper, grabbing a breakfast sandwich with a friend after tennis, seeing what’s new that might make the perfect host gift, gathering sandwiches for the park or stocking up for a dinner party.
At Aspens Market, Pearl Street Market and Westside Wine & Spirits (operated under the same ownership), the focus is as much about how it feels to shop as what’s on the shelves. The environment and experience are as important as the specialty and everyday items people are there to buy.
The business’s foundation is offering specialty convenience stores, but these are not the typical kind. Spaces are curated to feel as if a trusted friend obsessed with food, wine and entertaining opened a welcoming corner shop. The sterile feeling of traditional grocery stores and wine shops has been replaced with warm interiors, curated products and a small, friendly staff.
Plus there are thoughtful extras: locally sourced goods, an ice cream counter, seating to dine inside or out and a store-within-a-store of health, beauty and gift items you don’t usually find in markets open 365 days a year.
Locals linger because they’re catching up with friends while they cross errands off their list. Visitors appreciate the convenience as they head out on Jackson Hole adventures and often comment on the selection and charm. “I wish we had stores like this in…” is overheard almost daily, and it still makes the staff proud.
How Does It All Work?
Behind-the-scenes activity reveals a system functioning in plain sight. With no loading dock and very limited storage, trucks deliver pallets to the parking lot where they’re offloaded directly onto “u-boats” (big blue carts) and wheeled straight to the shelves.
It’s a concentrated effort, unloading quickly while trying not to block the exact item someone is reaching for in a limited space.
The kitchen is partially exposed (hence the wafting bacon scent). Shoppers looking for yogurt are separated from the produce manager by only a swinging half-door as she cuts fruit or makes fresh guacamole and salsa for the day.
Deliveries of certain specialty items are brought to an upstairs office to be tagged and divvied up for merchandising at both market locations.
In the past few years, the stores have focused on expanding the health and beauty departments, which means hauling shopping baskets of cosmetics and skincare products into the store multiple times a day to restock faster than the products disappear. This also means that the people who chose that particular merchandise for the store are often present and can answer customers’ questions about the benefits of using a hyaluronic acid serum in dry climates or help them identify a popular shade of lipstick.
What Makes It Special?
The store’s products and clientele shift with the seasons, but after fifteen years in business the rhythm of operating small businesses in Jackson Hole feels familiar. Inspiration for items to sell and store design comes from time spent in cities, travels abroad and a genuine love of keeping up with what’s new and exciting in the world of food and wine.
One of the greatest benefits of being independent and owner-operated is the ability to put almost anything on the shelves rather than stocking only what a corporation approves. That freedom comes with challenges. Without the buying power or storage space of a larger operation, the markets have to stay intentional about every item brought in.
One way that is done is by getting feedback from customers so the shelves reflect what shoppers crave. Shelf space is stocked with specialty pastries from a small independent bakery in Los Angeles alongside Oreo cookies.
It’s All in the Feedback and Commitment to Customers
The prepared foods have evolved over the years, but loyal customers keep certain favorites steady.
One longtime Aspens Market customer buys premade mini sandwiches by the dozen each week for her son’s camp lunches, saying, “he won’t eat anything else!”
A husband and wife who live near Pearl Street Market stop in twice a week for salmon and kale salad from the prepared case because it’s their “favorite, easy, healthy” dinner. The house-made guacamole and chicken salad have developed something of a cult following on their own.
The management team has focused on growing the businesses through steady trial and error — refining goods, services and even store layouts. Regular customers have witnessed expansion and contraction, redesign, adjustments of flow and moving products many times.
That flexibility may be the hallmark of small businesses: always trying to make the most of the space and the effort, often while the store is open and customers are shopping.
You will find Aspens and Pearl Street Market open every day of the year. The markets have operated through a pandemic, solar eclipses and power outages as well. Management contributes the consistency of a great staff to much of the success. Some staff have been employed since the beginning, and after fifteen years they know the patterns of each season and day.
From early dog walkers grabbing coffee to the dinner party host needing another bottle of wine at 7:52 p.m., shoppers will find a smile behind the counter waiting for them.
Aspens Market by the Numbers
Aspens Market isn’t just a neighborhood grocery store—it’s a well-oiled machine serving locals and visitors 365 days a year. Here are a few numbers that tell the story.
By the Numbers
365 – Days the markets are open each year. That’s right—they never close.
8,170 – Limes sold last year.
That’s enough for more than 2,000 pitchers of margaritas.
2,190 – Dog treats handed out annually by cashiers to four-legged shoppers.
329 – Mini sandwiches sold each week during last summer.
17 pounds – Bacon cooked every day for the wildly popular Turkey Bacon Club.
2,162 – Bottles of rosé sold at Westside Wine & Spirits last summer.
1,856 pounds – Snake River Farms American Wagyu Zabaton steak sold in 2025.
Five Customer Favorites
Some products fly off the shelves faster than others. These are the items shoppers can’t seem to get enough of.
House-Made Guacamole
Made fresh daily, with the spice level varying from batch to batch. Some loyal customers even call ahead to ask just how spicy it is before making the trip.
BonBon Sour Blackberry Fish
These addictive Swedish sour gummies are made by a small factory in southern Sweden and disappear quickly from the checkout display.
Bacon Breakfast Sandwich
Jackson mornings run on coffee… and these sandwiches. Nearly 5,000 were sold last year.
Bequet Caramels
The ultimate checkout treat. Customers purchased 7,929 last year, making them the store’s third-best-selling item—behind only bananas and limes.
Ghia Non-Alcoholic Aperitif
This botanical, booze-free favorite is especially popular during summer entertaining season and rarely stays on the shelves for long.
Staff Picks
The people who work here know the shelves better than anyone. These are a few products they reach for again and again.
Daniel Boulud Smoked Salmon – Premium Atlantic salmon from Chef Daniel Boulud’s Épicerie line, artisan smoked by Catsmo Smokehouse.
Common Good Tea Tree All-Purpose Cleaner – A natural cleaner that smells incredible, leaves glass streak-free, looks great on the counter, and comes with refill pouches to reduce waste.
Shumway Farms Ice Cream – A family-owned Star Valley favorite available in nearly a dozen flavors. It’s a summer staple and a year-round bestseller.
Party Supplies from Bonjour Fête, My Mind’s Eye & Meri Meri – From cocktail napkins to festive accessories, because every gathering deserves a little extra flair.
Jack Black Mint Lip Balm – SPF protection and serious hydration for dry mountain lips.
Malin + Goetz Otto Candle – A customer favorite with modern floral notes of peony, rose and geranium that works beautifully year-round.
Aspens Market × Snake River Roasting Co. Moose Crossing Coffee – The house blend served fresh daily and available as whole beans to take home.
Alpenglow Farms Garlic – A seasonal favorite that shoppers eagerly await when local garlic harvest arrives in late summer.
