Awards

The 2011 edition of Interbrand’s Best Retail Brands report again lists Target in the second position with a value of $23.3 billion in between number-one-ranked Walmart at $142 billion and third-ranked Home Depot at $20.3 billion.

New York City -- Amazon.com, Kohl's Department Stores and Costco Wholesale ranked tops in customer service. according to a new research report published by market researcher Temkin Group.

Retailers took 15 of the top 20 spots in the 2011 Temkin Experience Ratings (www.temkinratings.com), which based its findings on a survey of 6,000 U.S. consumers who had recent interactions with 143 large U.S. companies in a dozen industries.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples on Monday said it has been named a 2011 Energy Star Partner of the Year in Energy Management by the EPA. The chain has increased its renewable energy purchases and development to cover 53% of its total U.S. electricity consumption, more than double the company’s previous level.

Staples has also been named an Energy Star Leader by the EPA for reducing energy consumption by more than 11% across its facilities, based on EPA's standardized tools for tracking energy use.

NEW YORK -- Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Best Buy and CVS took top honors in Interbrand’s annual ranking of the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands. The U.S. brands are valued in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand.

New York City -- Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Best Buy and CVS took top honors in Interbrand’s annual ranking of the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands. The U.S. brands are valued in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand.

AUSTIN, Texas and WASHINGTON -- Whole Foods Market announced that it is teaming up with AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Festival, the nation's leading documentary festival, to award $50,000 in grant money to filmmakers working in the green film genre.

NEW YORK — Costco Wholesale CEO Jim Sinegal has made the Barron’s magazine list of the top 30 CEOs.

Sinegal earned the 22nd spot on the list. The magazine pointed out his busy travel schedule, which takes him to most of Costco’s 582 stores every year, as well as a recent trip to Asia from which he arrived in Issaquah, Wash., at 8 a.m., showered and was in the office at 9 a.m.

The article can be accessed here.

Las Vegas -- Boulder, Colo.-based Wenger took top honors as Store of the Year in the Association for Retail Environments’ (A.R.E.) annual retail design competition. It’s the first U.S. retail outpost for the company, which is best known as the maker of the Swiss Army Knife.

SALISBURY, N.C. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Food Lion Family, Bloom and Bottom Dollar Food with its 10th consecutive Energy Star award. The company was one of 46 organizations recognized in the sustained excellence category and among 111 overall 2011 ENERGY STAR award winners chosen from more than 20,000 partners in the ENERGY STAR program.

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. announced that it was recognized this week by the Association of Fundraising Professionals with the organization's 2011 Freeman Philanthropic Services Award for Outstanding Corporation.