Corporate Responsibility

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. has won court approval to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy.   The chain’s reorganization plan was approved by the court on Tuesday. Under the plan, the chain will give all its stock to affiliates of private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, its senior lender.   

The Body Shop is staking a new claim in South American as it opens its first location in Chile.    Lured by a population of 17.8 million, and a stable and prosperous customer base, The Body Shop’s new store is located in Santiago, Plaza Egaña Mall — a property that is called the most sustainable mall in Chile.  

This week, 10,000 current and former Chipotle employees filed a class-action lawsuit claiming back wages, working off the clock and various labor violations. The suit should finally be the wake-up call necessary to get c-suite executives at restaurant, retail, hotel & lodging, convenience stores and other labor-intensive industries to take the issue seriously because the Chipotle case may be the tip of the iceberg.  

The U.S. Department of Energy recognized The Wendy's Company, and one of its franchisees, Wendco Group, for its energy-saving efforts.   Wendy’s Company and Wendco Group, which operates 43 Wendy's restaurants in Alabama and Florida, are participants in the DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge. The program aims to make commercial, public, industrial and residential buildings 20% more energy efficient over the next decade.     

In a scenario that few could have predicted, Walmart has emerged as one of President Obama’s most reliable corporate allies, a partner that has backed the White House on more than a dozen initiatives, including Obamacare and climate change, bloomberg.com reported.  

Ikea is extending its renewable energy commitment with plans for its first biogas-powered fuel cell system on the East Coast.    The home furnishings giant contracted Bloom Energy, Sunnyvale, California, for the design, development and installation of the system, which will be located at Ikea’s location in New Haven, Connecticut. Combined with the 940.8-kW solar array that was installed atop the store in 2012, the fuel cell project will help generate a majority of the store’s energy onsite.   

West Elm opened its 100th store, at Empire Stores, in Brooklyn, New York. It is the first tenant to officially open in the restored 19th-century coffee roasting facility and warehouse.   Located in Brooklyn’s Fulton Ferry Historic District, Empire Stores dates from 1869. Its massive red-brick walls feature distinctive round-arch openings and iron shutters, characteristic features of port warehouses of the period. The home furnishings retailer also has located its corporate headquarters within the building.  

Hillwood and The Howard Hughes Corporation have unveiled plans for a 130-acre, mixed-use development at Circle T Ranch, a master-planned community north of Dallas-Fort Worth. Circle T resides within AllianceTexas, an 18,000-acre tract that has brought 425 companies, 45,000 jobs, and the world’s first industrial airport to the town of Westlake.