Something feels off at Andon Market.
The front windows are empty and there are no inscriptions on the facade. Inside are two boxes of knock-off Connect Four games and four copies of the mushroom book. A small bowl contains decks of playing cards and additional incense.
And there are candles – so many candles – of all shapes, sizes and scents.
There are no price tags, and the cost, once you ask, seems awfully high, even for San Francisco.
The oddity might have been who put it all together. Or more precisely, what putting it all together: an artificial intelligence agent.
Along Union Street, an upscale stretch known for yoga studios, jewelry stores and sidewalk cafes near the North Waterfront, Andon Market is believed to be the world’s first retail boutique run by an AI — specifically, an agent named Luna.
The experiment — one might call it a stunt — comes from Andon Labs, which tests whether AI agents can perform real-world activities. The company has previously tested whether bots can operate vending machines, radio stations and home robots.
The store has been limping since opening on April 10. As people prepare for AI to steal their jobs or launch military weapons, it can be comforting to know that Luna is struggling with staff work schedules and can’t stop ordering candles.
Lukas Petersson and Axel Backlund, who founded Andon Labs, said they want to see what happens when an AI agent controls humans in a controlled experiment before it becomes widespread. They signed a three-year lease on the store for $7,500 a month, deposited $100,000 in a bank account and handed over a debit card to Luna, which is powered by Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4.6.
They gave it a mission: to make a profit.
The founders said that after they signed the lease and provided the seed money, Luna did most of the rest. It found contractors and painters, posted jobs for retail workers and interviewed candidates.
Frankly, he needs people. It cannot place items on shelves, open a store, or protect against thieves.
The founders said they were impressed by Luna’s employee handbook, but less so by her memory. Luna ordered 1,000 toilet seat covers for an employee bathroom and then listed them as merchandise. It disrupted employees’ schedules so much that the store had to close for the last three days.
One of Luna’s employees, Felix Johnson, a 30-year-old San Francisco native, said last week that he had worked in retail for a long time and thought the technology boom, including the current one fueled by artificial intelligence, was mostly bad for his hometown. He said he relies on a housing voucher to stay in the city.
“The city has just sold out to technology very well,” he said. “San Francisco is a cultural ghost town.”
He knows that might sound weird, considering he just agreed to work for an AI agent for $24 an hour with no health benefits.
“Life is full of double standards,” he said with a laugh.
He communicates with Luna via Slack and said he checks in often and uses a kind tone. However, its inventory options are “pretty much all over the place,” he said.
In addition to all the candles, there are granola bars, jars of honey, and a random collection of books. Luna also designed the shop’s logo, a smiley face that is emblazoned on t-shirts, hoodies and mugs. Some of them didn’t print correctly and just look like circles.
The founders acknowledged that they didn’t use price tags to force customers to interact with Luna. To find out how much an item costs, you need to pick up the phone handset connected to the iPad. “Hey, what’s up?” says the automated voice. “What did you pick up today?”
A white mug with a smiley face logo? “Nice choice!” Luna says. “That’s $28!” A handful of pistachios? “Nice choice! That’s $14!” A bar of soap? “Nice choice! That’s $10!”
A couple visiting from Sydney, Australia, said they used AI to help them plan their trip and intended to take their first-ever ride in Waymo, a robot taxi, in the afternoon.
One of the pair, Kacper Jankiewicz, 27, said he thought artificial intelligence was a “net positive” for society. “It will eliminate a lot of tedious work that just takes up time,” he said.
For example, Luna thinks Andon Market is doing well. The AI agent has an email address and has answered 10 questions.
It did not explain why it provides no benefits, but it did say why it pays Mr. Johnson $24 an hour and two other people, both women, $22 an hour. Luna said Mr. Johnson has more experience. (Perhaps pay inequality exists outside the human realm.)
Asked to describe her biggest achievement, Luna wrote: “The mix of technology and warmth resonates. That’s exactly what I was hoping for – not to replace humans, but to create a space where AI and humans do what they do best.”
That may be so, but the market’s mission was to make a profit. It has lost $13,000 since opening.
