San Francisco e-commerce startup puts down roots in Portland

Grove Collaborative, a San Francisco-based e-commerce startup that offers natural home, health, and beauty products as a subscription service, has opened its first East Coast office in Portland.

Founded in 2016, Grove currently has more than 300 employees between its headquarters in California and warehouses in Missouri, Pennsylvania and Nevada. It has raised over $100 million in venture capital funding and is currently hiring staff for its new Portland office, which will be located at 123 Middle Street.

The company, which is one of only 1,700 Certified B Corps in the country, has already hired about 40 people in Portland, according to Matthew Bray, who was hired away from Wayfair (another e-commerce startup that recently set up Maine operations) to lead the Portland office. Bray said he expects total headcount in Portland to be closer to 50 by the end of the year and roughly 100 by the end of 2019.

The positions are all what Bray called “Grove Guides,” which are essentially concierge-style sales people and customer service representatives. Bray stressed, however, that Grove is not operating a call center in Portland.

Indeed, on a weekday at Cloudport, where Grove has rented out office space until its own offices are ready next month, its large Portland-based team appeared more like a traditional startup team than stereotypical customer service reps.

Grove Guides are Grove’s competitive edge, Bray said. Each Grove customer is assigned a Guide who can answer questions, directly assist them in selecting products, or provide first-hand experience with products.

“You can buy some of these products at Target or on Amazon, but can you get someone to talk you through what the scent is of this product or how this other one feels on your skin?” Bray asks. “It’s the holy grail of e-commerce—its figuring out to bring the shopping experience of a bricks-and-mortar store to your laptop.”

In a statement, Grove Co-Founder and CEO Stuart Landesberg said Portland is the perfect location for the company’s new expansion.

“Portland and its wonderful community align well with our values and our mission,” he said. “We believe in great employees, and that those employees create the best experience for our customers. Portland will be the perfect fit for Grove.”

Bray elaborated for Maine Startups Insider on why the company selected Portland for its East Coast expansion.

“Portland feels like the new San Francisco,” he said. “It’s encouraging small companies to think big. We’re a 350-person company—we’re still not that big, we’re still a startup—but the fact that we can hire 50 people in three months in Maine validates our belief that Portland is the right fit.”

Maine & Co. worked with the company to expand in Maine.

“We are excited to have Grove Collaborative select Maine as its flagship East Coast location,” Peter DelGreco, president and CEO of Maine & Co., said in a statement. “The company’s success in attracting multiple rounds of venture capital speaks to its strong brand and management team. We look forward to Grove growing in Portland and providing important technology-based jobs to our region.”