Need to Know
12 : 11 : 18

London – The company that supplies London’s leading chefs with fresh produce has opened its first direct-to-consumer grocery store.

Natoora breaks free from the traditional design codes of supermarkets, using grey cement to create a sleek environment inspired by geology. Instead of organising its fruit and vegetables into categories, the produce is arranged according to its seasonal window – meaning shoppers are first greeted by early season produce, culminating in the discovery of a fermentation room at the back of the shop.

A refrigeration system means that the shop is constantly chilled to preserve the produce. The space also eschews plastic packaging, tapping into the growing movement towards zero-waste retail. While Natoora has long supplied high-end restaurants with ingredients, it is now determined to educate the general public about the importance of seasonality and transparency in food.

Look out for our new Food and Drink macrotrend Uprooted Diets, in which we explore the rise of local-first grocers such as Natoora.

Nevada – Cryptocurrency millionaire Jeffrey Berns plans to create a ‘new kind of business and residential community’ powered by blockchain.

Known as Sandbox City, it will be built over 67,000 acres and will pioneer new uses for the technology in an urban environment, which will include houses, schools and a technology-driven park for Berns’ company Blockchains. Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Architects and Tom Wiscombe Architecture were enlisted to design renderings of the smart city, with communal living sites and civic centres.

‘Multiple innovative technologies will change the way its residents interact on a daily basis and blockchain technology will be at the centre of it all – keeping systems honest, fair and democratic,’ reads a statement on the Blockchains website.

For more on how the smart cities of the future will integrate technology to benefit citizens, explore our Far Futures vertical.

US – The social network is opening a number of physical pop-ups in Macy’s stores around the US.

The Market will feature products from 100 of its best-loved brands on Instagram and Facebook, including small businesses and digital start-ups. These include charitable companies such as Love Your Melon, an apparel line designed to raise awareness of paediatric cancer, and Two Blind Brothers, a non-profit-making organisation that helps to fund research into sight loss.

The aim of the project is to introduce emerging brands to new audiences. ‘We know the power of connecting businesses with the people who love them most, which is why we’re proud to play a role in expanding the communities of these businesses to in-store shoppers at one of the most beloved retail stores in the world,’ reads a press release from Facebook.

Following recent controversies surrounding user data, Facebook has been working to rectify its image problem by showing how it can benefit small businesses while surprising and delighting its users.

The British high street is in a state of despair, according to a study by PwC and the Local Data Company. The accountancy firm found that 2,692 stores shut across the UK in the first half of 2018, while only 1,569 stores opened. Affected most by the closures were fashion and electronics retailers, with more people buying these types of products online.

Italian restaurants are also showing signs of struggle, with chains like Jamie’s Italian, Strada and Prezzo each shutting stores in the past year. However, supermarkets, book stores, ice cream parlours and coffee shops have all increased their store count.

To find out how stores can use invisible technology to avoid the grip of the retail apocalypse, read our macrotrend Storefront Salvation.