News 18.07.2018

News

The Restory launches in Harvey Nichols, Aura offers a luxury inflight service at an affordable price, Neighborhood Goods encourages smarter use of physical retail space.

The Restory brings luxury repairs to Harvey Nichols

The Restory in Harvey Nichols, London
The Restory in Harvey Nichols, London
The Restory in Harvey Nichols, London

London – The Restory has made its retail debut at luxury department store Harvey Nichols, expanding its high-end repairs service to reach a wider consumer base.

Catering to time-pressed customers, the company will now accept repairs through a new drop-off station at the high-end department store. Guests can deliver their items – such as worn leather handbags, scuffed shoes or broken straps – to any member of staff in the accessories or shoes department, to be collected by The Restory within 48 hours. Once received, the items will be assessed and the customer will receive a quote detailing the repairs needed, the approach The Restory will take, the cost and turnaround time. Standard work, such as paint touch-ups, polishing, and stain removal, will take between five to seven working days. The items are then wrapped and shipped to the customer’s chosen destination, be it their home or back to the store.

As luxury consumers seek to develop more sustainable relationships with their clothing, brands are exploring how to prolong the life of garments through services that re-create their original state.

Aura merges private and commercial air travel

Aura's five star flight experience

US – ZEDA aerospace is launching Aura, a new airline that offers the luxury and convenience of private air travel at an affordable price.

Billed as ‘America’s first five-star flight experience’, Aura will provide guests with an inflight service that includes extended legroom, gourmet meals, Wi-Fi and reclining seats, at a lower cost compared to a commercial first class flight ticket. Individual fares start at £212 ($280, €239) or alternatively passengers can opt for a membership service, costing £76 ($100, €85) a month for unlimited flights at fixed fares.

Accommodating just 29 passengers, Aura’s plane will operate in a similar way to private jets. Passengers can arrive 20 minutes before take-off and will be guided to a private hangar to board. Targeting businesspeople who frequently travel for work, the service will initially operate between larger metropolitan cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles.

Aura joins an expanding list of flight providers working to broaden the appeal of private aviation. For more, read our dedicated listicle.

Neighborhood Goods creates a future-fit department store

Texas – Neighborhood Goods is a new retail concept that enables smaller brands to temporarily invest in physical space to test their products.

Brands wishing to sell their collections will create their own activations for both the physical and digital Neighborhood Goods platforms, offering customers a holistic retail experience. Customers visiting the physical store can download its supporting iOS app to learn about the current brands in residence and make purchases. With features such as its own bar, restaurant, social spaces, event programming, and speaker series, Neighborhood Goods also doubles up as a cultural destination for consumers.

‘What we’re doing is creating an ecosystem wherein brands test new product types and capture new customers in a way that’s really affordable and easy for them to get into,’ says Matt Alexander, CEO of Neighborhood Goods. ‘Retail isn’t dead, but traditional retail has become mundane and stagnant. Consumers are clamouring for unique and memorable experiences, as much as they’re searching to uncover the newest and best products, meanwhile, brands are motivated to explore — and become more experimental with — physical retail.’

For more on how to be smarter with your brand’s physical space, explore our Storefront Salvation macrotrend.

Neighborhood Goods, Dallas, Texas

Volvo redesigns traditional family parking icons

Volvo redesigns family parking icons, London

London – In a move that recognises the evolving structure of modern families, Volvo and Grey London have launched a series of new parking icons at the Westfield London shopping centre.

The floor signage depicting same-sex couples with children or older people with pushchairs was installed to mark the launch of the new Volvo V60, the latest model in the brand’s recognisable family car series. ‘The introduction of the new V60 gives us the ideal opportunity to celebrate the modern family in all its guises. As the contemporary iteration of our mid-size family estate, the V60 perfectly reflects our human-centric approach to car design, which aims to make its owners’ lives easier and safer’, explains Mike Johnstone, marketing strategy director at Volvo Cars UK.

Following positive public response, Grey tells LS:N Global that it could expand the initiative, with the potential for the icons to become a permanent feature of car parks across the UK. For more on how brands can embrace a modern family mindset, read our Post-Family Marketing microtrend.

Consumers favour advice from pharmacists

In an oversaturated world of health advice, consumers are seeking ways to conveniently access professional expertise. New research from pharmaceutical firm Sanofi found that two-thirds of individuals would rather visit a pharmacist than a GP for advice on minor ailments.

The findings were most prominent among middle age respondents, with 70% of those aged 45-54 years saying they would visit a pharmacy for advice, compared to 50% of 16-24-years-old.

For more on how access to healthcare is evolving, download our new Health and Wellness report, launched on July 12.

Thought-starter: How is African cuisine gaining popularity outside of the continent?

In bars and restaurants, chefs are putting a new twist on regional African dishes. Ikoyi opened last year in London to rave reviews and has become a byword for modern African cuisine in the British capital. The restaurant uses a mix of west African and English ingredients to reinterpret homely dishes from across the region, combining them with fine dining techniques and unexpected plating.

‘West African food [is] kind of global cuisine that doesn’t really have an origin,’ says Ikoyi’s head chef, Jeremy Chan. ‘That made us realise we can do whatever we want. What’s stopping us doing our own rice dish, our own take on this whole cuisine? We’re just trying to understand and celebrate these incredible ingredients.’

Elsewhere, some restaurateurs are experimenting with a fast-casual take on traditional dishes from the continent. I Go Chop claims to be London’s first Nigerian takeaway. The menu includes a choice of grain bowls with African components such as jollof rice or yam porridge as a base, and beef stew, plaintain gizzard or chop fish among the topping options.

For more, see the full report here.

Ikoyi by Studio Ashby, London
Previous News Articles
Ocado’s Shopping List Stories campaign finds emotional value in the weekly shop

News

Ocado’s Shopping List Stories campaign finds emotional value in the weekly shop

Ocado is reframing grocery shopping as an emotional experience with Shopping List Stories, a new campaign by Uncommon Creative Studio.
Food And Drink : Supermarket : Branding And Advertising
Foresight Friday: Alice Crossley, senior foresight analyst

News

Foresight Friday: Alice Crossley, senior foresight analyst

Every Friday, The Future Laboratory team offers an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week, ...
Foresight Friday : Ff : Lionesses
Stat: Netflix confirms anime watching is no longer niche

News

Stat: Netflix confirms anime watching is no longer niche

More than half of Netflix’s 300m global subscribers now watch anime, according to proprietary figures shared by the streamer.
Pop Culture & Media : Youth : Technology
The Faroe Islands bring back the joy of getting lost

News

The Faroe Islands bring back the joy of getting lost

As algorithm-driven travel fuels overtourism, a new initiative is challenging travellers to let go of planning and control.
Travel : Tourism : The Faroe Islands
Thai perfume brand Journal turns fragrance samples into NFC collectables

News

Thai perfume brand Journal turns fragrance samples into NFC collectables

Fragrance brand Journal is rewriting the rules of scent sampling with a wearable fragrance tester that doubles as a social connector.
Beauty : Fragrance : Technology
Stat: Survey finds hardening stances on office attendance are impacting UK staff wellbeing

News

Stat: Survey finds hardening stances on office attendance are impacting UK staff wellbeing

Hardening return-to-office mandates are fuelling anxiety among UK workers, with 38% reporting that media coverage of stricter attendance policies i...
Office : Workplace : Stat
Innovation Debrief 2025–2026 report goes live

News

Innovation Debrief 2025–2026 report goes live

Discover the top 50 innovations acknowledging, driving and anticipating change in our new Innovation Debrief 2025–2026 report. 
Innovation Debrief 2024-2025 : Future Trends 2026 : Cultural Foresight
Joe Wicks’ Activate turns movement into play for kids

News

Joe Wicks’ Activate turns movement into play for kids

Fitness trainer Joe Wicks is swapping live-action workouts for animation with Activate – a lively new series of five-minute fitness bursts designed...
Fitness : Health And Wellbeing : Gen Alpha
IKEA creates open-air library along the Seine in Paris

News

IKEA creates open-air library along the Seine in Paris

IKEA has unveiled the Billyothèque, a pop-up outdoor library transforming a stretch of Paris’s Seine riverbank into a space for slow, serendipitous...
Ikea : Reading Room : Reading Experience
Stat: US teens turn to AI companions for life advice

News

Stat: US teens turn to AI companions for life advice

A new study by Common Sense Media reveals that 72% of US teens aged 13–17 have tried AI companions, with over half now using them regularly.
Technology : AI : Stat
You have 2 free News articles remaining. Sign up to LS:N Global to get unlimited access to all articles.
BECOME A MEMBER
SIGN IN