With retailers such as Trader Joe’s, Safeway and Wal-Mart branching out into natural and organic food offerings, Whole Foods is fighting back with an innovation of its own. The Austin-based supermarket chain recently launched its first wellness spa located within one of its stores in North Dallas (the really wealthy part of Dallas where the “ladies who lunch” hang out with their Hermes scarves and plan their next shopping trip to Neiman Marcus). The thinking, of course, is that people who care about what they eat will also care about their overall mental and physical well-being:

“Refresh: The Everyday Spa by Whole Foods Market is a new venture for the Austin-based supermarket chain. Housed in a 4,500-square foot space above the main floor are seven treatment rooms stocked with organic cotton sheets and towels and offering various massages, scrubs and other treatments. Massage chairs on the balcony overlooking the main grocery floor will provide a range of five- and 10-minute pick-me-ups. Spa guests who feel a bit peckish can order from the chef’s spa menu (the store also has a staff dietitian who can be booked for menu planning, diet consultations and shopping guidance). The spa reception area also is stocked with Whole Foods’ higher-end beauty and body-care products, including the Dr. Hauschka line, along with organic-cotton bedding and towels, and organic-fiber clothing.”

Taking a big picture view, this experiment by Whole Foods is an interesting development. Judging from the spectacular success of the minute clinic concept in other retail stores, it appears that people are willing to satisfy their healthcare and wellness needs without the help of traditional healthcare providers. Speed, convenience and pricing, it appears, are powerful motivators.

[image: A massage table at Whole Foods]

Microsoft never seems to get any respect as an innovator within the technology sector. Things may be changing though, with the company redoubling efforts to bring innovations from the lab into the broader market. As Network World explains, Microsoft Research is fighting back against critics who claim that Microsoft consistently plays second fiddle to the likes of Apple and Google. Certainly, the massive brainpower assembled by Microsoft is impressive:

“Microsoft planted the seeds of innovation 15 years ago when it established what has become one of its most distinguishing features, Microsoft Research (MSR). The lab has spawned innovations seen today in products from Windows Vista to Exchange Server to Xbox 360.

MSR has grown from an idea to more than 700 researchers working out of five labs around the globe with a budget of more than $250 million. MSR incubates not only futuristic ideas but young minds, having hired 700 interns worldwide this year including 250 computer science PhD candidates in Redmond alone, which is roughly 21% of all the computer science PhD candidates in the United States. It’s a program Microsoft officials say is the world’s largest PhD. internship program for computer science.

The MSR staff, however, is not just computer scientists, it includes psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists and medical doctors who are tasked with pushing the envelope on state of the art technology as much or more than transferring their technology into new and existing Microsoft products.

If you’re interested to learn more about what’s next at Microsoft, you might want to check out another profile of Microsoft Research called Inside Microsoft’s Labs.

[image: Microsoft Research head Rick Rashid with Bill Gates]