Sustainability

There's more disruption in the mattress category at retail.    West Elm has entered into a partnership with hot online mattress company Leesa Sleep, which will replace another hot online startup — Casper — as the home furnishings retailer's official mattress partner. The news come on the heels of Casper's announcement that it will open up more than a dozen pop-up stores in cities nationwide.

7-Eleven is being honored for its commitment to reducing energy.   The Alliance to Save Energy has awarded 7-Eleven with the Alliance to Save Energy "Built Environment" award for its commitment to reducing energy consumption and improving efficiency in its stores.    7-Eleven has successfully decreased electricity use in store operations by an estimated 21% over the past seven years through installing LED lighting, energy management systems and high-efficiency HVAC units.  

The nation's largest home improvement retailer has found a new use for its store roofs.   The Home Depot is partnering with GE's Current unit and Tesla on a rooftop solar project in 50 stores across five states (California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and the District of Colombia.) The initiative will reduce electricity grid demand by an estimated 30% to 35% annually at each location. Under a power purchase agreement, Home Depot will lease its roof space and buy the output from the systems.   

As more retailers begin to adopt the Bonobos-style showroom store as their brick-and-mortar strategies, will bike garages become a new fixture in malls and shopping centers?   If so, the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands might prove the design test case. It just opened the first phase of what will be the world’s largest bike garage at the Central Train Station, a 184,000-sq.-ft. space capable of holding 12,500 bikes at full build-out.  

Digitally native retailers are infusing the retail industry with something it can always use: new blood. Here are eight interesting newcomers to the physical space:    Away  

A retail legend has passed.   Costco Wholesale Club announced "with great sadness" that co-founder and chairman Jeff Brotman died Tuesday morning. He was 74.   "The thoughts of Costco’s board, management and employees are with Jeff’s wife and family,” Costco said in a short statement.    Brotman co-founded Costco Wholesale with Jim Sinegal. The two opened the first Costco warehouse club location in 1983, in Seattle.