Sustainability

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Etsy Inc., the online marketplace for handmade arts, crafts and clothing, has gone public with a bang. Shares opened on Thursday at $31 a share, almost twice their initial public offering price. As of April 16, Etsy is trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol “ETSY.”

After the offering, the total number of shares outstanding will be 110.9 million. Based on the opening price, Etsy is valued at over $3.7 billion.

Arlington, Va. – The Retail Industry Leaders Association has released the 2015 Retail Sustainability Management Maturity Matrix, a tool for retail sustainability executives to identify possible pathways to strong environmental sustainability programs. The Matrix, co-developed by RILA and Deloitte Consulting LLP, represents the collective knowledge of many industry experts as to leading sustainability management practices.

It’s important to balance not only the flooring product selection but also color consistency across materials, employee and customer comfort, risk management, slip-and-fall issues, branding, sustainability and more. Meet Mark Bischoff with Tarkett, as he discusses what it means to marry design and safety in a space as well as how Tarkett manages national and international rollouts.

Some of the biggest names in retail soon will be honored in the nation’s capital when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy host an annual event to recognize Energy Star Partners of the Year.

Among this year’s award recipients are Home Depot, Sears, Best Buy, Kroger, Kohl’s, Food Lion, Staples and JCPenney. The eight retailers are among 128 total companies being honored as Energy Star Partners of the Year from the roughly 16,000 companies who partner with EPA on the broad-based energy efficiency program.

H&M gave new meaning to the phrase “pop-up store” with a merchandising initiative at its Times Square location focused on conscious commerce.

The retailer, which operates 3,100 stores worldwide, chose the New York flagship location as the launch point for its H&M Conscious Exclusive Collection and the opening of its Conscious Pop-Up Store. On hand for the opening were actress Olivia Wilde and Barbara Burchfield of Conscious Commerce.

Walmart’s share price will be under pressure in the coming years as a holding company created decades ago by the Walton family to control their ownership of the company prepares to unload as much as 6% of Walmart’s outstanding shares.

Minneapolis – Best Buy president and CEO Hubert Joly now has something in common with Frank Sinatra — you can call him “Chairman of the Board.” Joly will succeed current chairman Hatim Tyabji, who is retiring from the board effective June 9, 2015, as board chairman.

Russell P. Fradin, president and CEO of SunGard and a Best Buy Board member since April 2013, will serve as lead independent director. Tyajbi, CEO of mobile data/video company Bytemobile Inc., has served on the Best Buy board since 2008 and as chairman since 2012.

With Earth Day upon the retail industry all sorts of operators are touting accomplishments, including Staples where an impressive milestone demonstrates how a company can do well by doing good.

The company said it has collected more than 450 million ink and toner cartridges for recycling in the U.S. since 2005, averaging more than 60 million cartridges per year for the past four years. Through the cartridge recycling program, Staples has helped recover and recycle 234 million pounds of plastics and metals, diverting roughly the weight of 8,000 full garbage trucks from landfills.