Sean Gregory poses an interesting question in this week's TIME: "When was the last time you walked into a store and saw, or just felt, something fresh?"
I get the point he's making. Really, I do. But I also immediately thought of my trip to Austin, Texas last week for SXSW Interactive. We went to the Whole Foods Market's flagship store downtown and it was buzzing with energy—it's more of a community center than a grocery store. And to directly answer Gregory's question, what I saw that was fresh: The market features a "green wall," installed by G-Sky, suspended in mid-air over the escalators that bring customers up from the underground parking lot. I was oozing with jealousy, trying to figure out how I could fashion a miniature version of this vertical garden on wheels for my box-sized studio apartment, perhaps for growing herbs. But getting back to the point of Gregory's piece, and the point of the TIME cover story "10 Ideas that are Changing the World," we need to rethink the way we live, the way we work, the way we interact, the way we consume. We need to rethink the way we think. Bravo, Graj + Gustavsen, for its concept of a "survival store," a one-stop-shop for everything you need to make it through the trying periods of life, including raw materials, rainwater barrels, a Yogi, and an education department complete with financial advisors. It's taking ideas like Apple's Genius Bar and scaling it up for the masses—the tired, the poor, the huddled masses. As the article states:
We've lost too much wealth to return to the old days. Even if the economy roars back, could we really be dumb enough to revert to our old habits of conspicuous consumption?
So think about it, and let us know in the comments section: When was the last time you walked into a store and saw, or just felt, something fresh? What would you like to see available in your neighborhood survival store?