Sustainability

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Department Stores announced its goal to achieve net zero emissions each year through 2015. The company also announced that it has been recognized with a 2013 Sustained Excellence in Green Power Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (The annual Green Power Leadership Awards recognize the country’s leading green power users for their commitment and contribution to helping advance the development of the nation’s voluntary green power market.)

Austin, Texas – Whole Foods Market is launching an in-store meat apprenticeship program for its team members. The intensive 18-month training program is designed to transform aspiring butchers into skilled meat cutters and teach them the company's standards for quality, animal welfare, food safety, and sanitation.

Conshohocken, Pa. -- Ikea plans to incorporate the largest geothermal heating and cooling system in the state of Kansas (and neighboring Missouri) in its upcoming store in Merriam, Kan. The 359,000-sq.-ft. store is now under construction.

The related drilling and underground work should be complete by winter, with the system operational when the building opens in fall 2014. The Ikea Merriam will be the second U.S. Ikea location with geothermal technology. (In 2011, Ikea opened a store Centennial, Col., that uses geothermal technology.)

Walmart awarded a $500,000 grant to the Northwest Arkansas Council to support the advancement of healthy living and economic improvement initiatives throughout Northwest Arkansas. 

The grant is part of a three-year commitment by Walmart to fund the Greater Northwest Arkansas Development Strategy, a regional growth and development plan spearheaded in 2010 by the Northwest Arkansas Council, local chambers of commerce and other organizations. 

Sales at Target stores in Canada have been a little uneven since the company entered the market earlier this year, but at least the company can point to an unrivaled environmental accomplishment.

Walmart held another one of its Global Sustainability Milestone Meetings on Thursday and shed new light on priorities and initiatives that promise to have far-reaching implications on suppliers as well as competitors.

The highlight of the meeting was an update on the company’s Sustainability Index which has been rolled out to 200 product categories and 1,000 suppliers with a total of 300 categories and 5,000 suppliers expected by year end, according to the company.

Mississauga, Ontario -- Target announced that an additional 44 store locations in Canada have been awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification. This means that all 68 newly launched Target locations have been awarded LEED certification, a first for a major retailer in Canada.

Target is pursuing LEED certification for all 124 stores scheduled to open in Canada this year through the LEED Volume Program, which streamlines the certification process for buildings in both Canada and the U.S.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust is repositioning its Moorestown Mall in suburban Moorestown, N.J., by bringing in tenants associated with urban life.

For instance, a number of new tenants include independent chef-owned restaurants like those found in urban edge neighborhoods.

The goal is to reposition the suburban mall with an urban environment.