Awards

Zappos.com took top honors in the sixth annual NRF Foundation/American Express Customers' Choice Survey, whose results were released at the National Retail Federation's Annual Convention and Expo in New York City. The survey, conducted by BIGresearch, is designed to gauge consumer attitudes toward retailers' customer service and provide a list of the retailer that offer the best customer service (as judged by consumers).

The Top 10 retailers in the ranking were:

Los Angeles -- In recognition of his business and philanthropic achievements, The Home Depot’s executive VP merchandising, Craig Menear, will receive The Spirit of Life Award from City of Hope’s Hardware/Homebuilding Industry group. Menear will be honored Jan. 11, at a reception, at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Fla., by colleagues and industry members. The day will begin with a golf tournament event that supports City of Hope’s lifesaving research, education and treatment programs for cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Tempe, Ariz. -- Vestar’s Tempe Marketplace open-air shopping center, located in Tempe, Ariz., was recognized by the International Council of Shopping Centers with a Silver Sustainability Award in ICSC’s annual U.S. Design and Development Awards.

Designed to recognize outstanding projects for excellence in the creation of new retail projects, and in the expansion or redevelopment of existing projects, Tempe Marketplace was chosen for its sustainability, innovative design and development of the property since its build out.

Executives from The Container Store and Urban Outfitters are among the retailers who will be honored at the National Retail Federation’s Annual Convention and EXPO, or BIG Show, which will be held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, Jan. 9-12, 2011.

The recipients will accept their awards during the show’s Annual Retail Industry Luncheon on Tuesday, Jan. 11.

Due to the blizzard in New York City and resulting travel delays, the deadline for entries in Chain Store Age’s 29th annual Retail Store of the Year design competition has been extended until Tuesday, January 4, 2011.

For more information/entry form, go to chainstoreage.com/retail-store-year-0 or e-mail [email protected].

Fortune has released its list of the top 10 Fortune 500 stock performers for 2010, and Dillard's is the lone retailer on the list.

Ranked at number 10, Dillard's, which is ranked at 348 on the Fortune 500, posted a year-to-date stock performance improvement of 97% and a market cap of $2.1 billion.

According to the report, Dillard's sold more merchandise this November than last year, with sales totaling almost $470 million for the month. That marked a 7% increase over last year.

CHICAGO - Staples and the Chicago Bears have announced that McHenry-based Frost Dental Lab and M&M Custom Flooring of New Lenox are the final “enshrinees” to be named to the Staples Small Business Hall of Fame. These Chicagoland small businesses join previous winners Markatay Inc. and Tasty Catering to make up the Staples Small Business Hall of Fame Class of 2010.

BRUSSELS - Ikea announced that it has been named the winner of 'Retailer of the Year Europe' 2010. Retailer of the Year is the largest consumer survey in Europe and this year the survey was held in no less than 10 European countries. More than 1.45 million consumers participated in the consumer survey and assessed over 1,100 retail chains, according to the company.

In seven out of the 10 countries, Ikea is in the top five of the 'best' retail chains, the company reported.

New York City -- Whole Foods Market’s store in Lake Grove has become the first supermarket  in the United States to be awarded with both a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council as well as a Three Green Globe certification from the Green Building Initiative.

The store, which opened in March 2010, is the third of Whole Foods Market’s 22 locations in the Northeast region to receive a LEED certification, and the first to be recognized by the Green Building Initiative.

New York City -- The National Retail Federation on Friday released its 2010 list that annually ranks the 10 stores with the best customer service.

The list is based on surveys of more than 9,000 shoppers, all asked the following question: “Thinking of all the different retail formats (store, catalog, Internet or home shopping), which retailer delivers the best customer service?”

In total, the NRF ranked 46 stores, and will release the complete list in January.