Black-Owned Autonomous Grocer Goes Where Other Stores Aren’t
The owners of Atlanta’s Nourish + Bloom are doubling down on their mission to tackle food deserts after ‘Shark Tank’ investors declined to fund them.
Jilea and Jamie Hemmings pitched their idea for small footprint grocery stores with automated checkout on “Shark Tank”.
Photo: Disney/Christopher Willard
The first Black-owned and operated autonomous grocery store in the US — and the first of its kind in the US South — is some kind of Southern bodega. Nourish + Bloom, located outside of Atlanta, shares much in common with the kind of corner store you can find on almost every block in New York City: There is a small market where customers can buy their essentials — produce, canned goods, frozen dinners, beverages, toiletries — and a deli where they can pick up prepared foods.
All that’s missing is the cat — and the cashiers. There is, however, a digital tablet-based AI assistant named Rosie at the entrance who can interact with customers — along with co-owners Jilea and Jamie Hemmings, who are typically at the market greeting, cooking and serving.