Sustainability

Conshohocken, Pa. -- Ikea announced plans to install a fuel cell system at its location in Emeryville, California. Consistent with the retailer’s focus on emerging energy technologies, is the first Ikea in the world to convert biogas into electricity through a clean electro-chemical process. The fuel cell system will be installed, commissioned and activated by this summer, 2015.

Ikea contracted Bloom Energy, Sunnyvale, California, for the design, development and installation of the fuel system.

Robert “Bob” Piccinini, the longtime chairman of Save Mart Supermarkets, has died. He was 73.

In a statement, the company said that Bob was most passionate about two things: his family and his company. He purchased Save Mart from the Piccinini and Tocco families in 1985 after working his way up through the ranks as a box boy, truck driver, store manager, vice president of real estate and on to president and CEO.

City of Commerce, Calif. - 99 Cents Only Stores has opened an onsite fully operational compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station in the company's main distribution center. This is the final step in the company's plan in adopting a green approach to its private fleet operation.

IKEA plans to open a store of truly epic proportions on a 22 acre site in Burbank, Calif., that will require the home furnishing retailer first demolish 19 existing structures.

Clean, quiet and efficient are the benefits 99 Cents Only expects to derive from a switch to natural gas fueled vehicles at its main distribution center in California.

The extreme value retailer said it opened a fully operational compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station on site at the company's main distribution center in the Los Angeles suburb of City of Commerce. The move is the final step in the company's plan to adopt a green approach to a private fleet operation that serves 383 stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas.

New York  -- Ikea will open its largest U.S. store on a 22-acre site in Burbank, California. As the first step in the construction process, the retailer must demolish 19 existing structures on the site. The new 456,000-sq.-ft. store is slated to open in spring 2017.

Reflecting the company’s commitment to sustainability, Ikea plans to recycle, repurpose or salvage as much of the existing buildings’ equipment, materials, and parts as possible.
 

Seattle – Starbucks Corp. tackled a wide range of global responsibility projects in 2014, including the ongoing minimization of its environment footprint. In its annual 2014 Global Responsibility Report, the coffee giant noted that it opened its 500th LEED-certified store in 2014, and that 98% of company-operated new stores opened in the United States in 2014 were built to LEED standards. Globally, the percentage stands at 64%.

By Roy Higgs