Polymarket Debuts Free Grocery Store in New York City

Prediction market company's pop-up outshines similar stunt by competitor Kalshi

Published on Feb. 14, 2026

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Polymarket, a prediction market platform, has opened a free grocery store in New York City, offering shoppers up to $50 worth of free groceries over a three-day period. The store, which is designed to look like a miniaturized Trader Joe's, is part of a marketing battle between Polymarket and its competitor Kalshi, who recently took over a local supermarket for a day with a similar free groceries promotion.

Why it matters

The free grocery store stunts by Polymarket and Kalshi highlight the competitive nature of the prediction market industry as they vie for customer attention and market share. These types of marketing campaigns can help raise awareness of the companies' products and services, but also raise questions about the ethics and sustainability of such promotional tactics.

The details

Polymarket's free grocery store is open for five days, though the free groceries will only be available on three of those days. The store is designed to look like a miniaturized Trader Joe's, and the experience appears to be more planned out than Kalshi's similar stunt, which took over an existing supermarket for one day. Polymarket is also accepting community donations for local charities and has donated $1 million to Food Bank for NYC.

  • Polymarket's free grocery store opened on Thursday, February 13, 2026.
  • Kalshi's free groceries promotion took place last week.

The players

Polymarket

A prediction market platform that has opened a free grocery store in New York City as part of a marketing campaign.

Kalshi

A competitor of Polymarket in the prediction market industry, who recently ran a similar free groceries promotion by taking over a local supermarket for a day.

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The takeaway

While these free grocery store stunts may generate short-term buzz and attention, they raise questions about the long-term sustainability and ethics of such promotional tactics in the prediction market industry.