Sustainability

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola has streamlined its operating structure and the senior leaders for those businesses, the company said.

Safeway has opened the first LEED for Retail certified store in the state of Montana, in the town of Bozeman. The $12 million, 58,000-sq.-ft. store is one of approximately just 200 LEED certified grocery stores in the United States.

SECAUCUS, N.J. — Panasonic Corporation of North America has launched a new communication campaign designed to bring attention to the brand's broad scope of products and solutions designed to meet consumer, business-to-business, and industrial needs. The campaign will also underscore Panasonic's global commitment to becoming the electronics industry's leader in green innovation by its 100th anniversary in 2018.

Assessing the strength of the American consumer has become something of a national past time, especially during an election year. And as conflicting data points paint a picture of a lumpy economic recovery both presidential candidates can find something in retailers’ sales results that lend credence to their arguments.

The economic recovery may be on an uneven track, but consumers are still willing to spend money – at Whole Foods Market especially.

Lowe’s will begin carrying a line of outdoor sheds made of structural insulated panels (SIPS) at its 1,700 retail locations, as well as through its website. But unlike traditional SIPS – rigid foam insulation between two panels of oriented strand board (OSB) – the new product will be made with sheets of magnesium oxide, often referred to as MgO.

Pittsburgh -- Ikea has plugged in the new solar energy system installed at its Pittsburgh-area store in Robinson Township, Pa. The 86,800-sq.-ft. PV array consists of a 694-kW system, built with 2,884 panels. It will produce approximately 852,200 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 648 tons of carbon dioxide, eliminating the emissions of 115 cars or powering 73 homes yearly.

Basking Ridge, N.J. -- Verizon Wireless said Tuesday that its green retail store design has achieved pre-certification in the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Volume Program. 

Verizon Wireless is one of only eight retailers in the United States and the only wireless company to achieve pre-certification from the USGBC, according to the company.