Inter Ikea Systems BV

Ikea continues to grow its U.S. renewable energy portfolio, with a goal of being energy independent by 2020.   The retailer has completed installation of its fifth biogas-powered fuel cell system in California – and in the country – at its East Palo Alto location in the San Francisco Bay area.  

An online giant and the world’s biggest retailer claim the top two positions in a study that ranks retail companies by their brand value.   Amazon ranked as the world’s most valuable retail brand in the annual study by valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance. The company’s brand value, $106.4 billion, is nearly double that of Walmart ($62.2 billion), which ranked as the second most valuable retail brand. (An explanation of the ranking is provided at the end of article.)    

The iconic blue panels are going up on what will be Ikea’s fourth store in Texas.   The 290,000-sq.-ft. store is located in Grand Prairie, 14 miles outside of downtown Dallas. It is scheduled to open in fall 2017.    Ikea is bullish on expansion in Texas. The retailer previously announced plans for a store in Fort Worth, and also one in the San Antonio area. Both locations are scheduled to open in summer 2019.   

Apple’s Spaceship to Land

Apple will open its highly anticipated new campus in April. Dubbed Apple Park, the site is located on a 175-acre site in Cupertino, Calif.

The heart of the campus is a futuristic, ring-shaped, 2.8 million-sq.-ft. headquarters building that’s clad entirely in panels of curved glass. Designed in collaboration with Foster + Partners, Apple Park is powered by 100% renewable energy. With 17 megawatts of rooftop solar, the campus will run one of the largest on-site solar energy installations in the world.

When retailers and architects design store layouts, beyond designing for aesthetics they attempt to control the path that shoppers take through the store. Ideally, shoppers follow the most convenient path to find the products they seek, one that is lucrative for the retailer and that gives shoppers the opportunity to notice the maximum number of products during their time in store.  

The larger solar rooftop array in the state of Washington is now completed — and it’s on top of an Ikea store.   Ikea has installed a solar array on the top its 244,000-sq.-ft. store currently under construction in Renton, Washington. It is scheduled to open in spring 2017.  

Ikea stores are so inviting that some teens want to spend the night.   Ten of the Swedish home furnishing giant’s stores across the world have been the location of illegal sleepovers, BBC News reported.   

In a move that is likely to help it attract new talent — and hold on to existing employees — Ikea U.S. has announced one of the most generous and inclusive parental leave programs in the U.S. retail industry.    Effective Jan. 1, Ikea will provide all its 13,000 U.S. salaried and hourly employees who are expanding their families — including mothers, fathers and adoptive and foster parents — with up to four months of paid parental leave.  

A new solar project will make Ikea the largest non-utility solar owner in the state of Ohio.   The home furnishings giant plans to install solar panels atop its future store in Columbus, Ohio, due to open in summer 2017.  It will be the second Ikea solar array in Ohio. The chain installed a 1.026-MW rooftop array at its Cincinnati-area store in 2012.   REC Solar will develop, design and install the solar power system at the Columbus store, which is being built by Pepper Construction. 

Ikea is hoping to build its fifth store in the state of Texas.   The retailer is submitting plans to the City of Live Oak, Texas, for a San Antonio-area store. Pending approvals, construction could begin in spring 2018, with an opening in summer 2019.     Located approximately 15 miles northeast of downtown San Antonio, the 289,000-sq.-ft. proposed Ikea would be built on 31 acres.