Home Improvement

Houston -- Thor Equities announced Lowe’s Companies will build a 100,000-sq.-ft. home improvement store at The Shoppes at Cinco Ranch located in Katy, Texas. The company is in the process of developing the 35-acre property, which will include retail stores and restaurant spaces. The property is anchored by Walgreens, with Kroger and Academy Sports + Outdoors located across the street.

Two of the biggest names in the U.S. paint industry are combining forces.

Chattanooga, Tenn. -- CBL & Associates Properties announced renovation plans for CoolSprings Galleria in Nashville, Tennessee. The renovation comes on the heels of a major anchor redevelopment completed in early 2015, the recent addition of dining destination Connors Steak & Seafood, and the opening of Kings Bowling and Entertainment in May.

Ikea on track to make its Nevada debut this spring.

The home furnishings retailer will open a store in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, May 18. It will be the Swedish company’s first location in Nevada, and 42nd in the United States.

The 351,000-sq.-ft. Las Vegas Ikea is being built on 26 acres along the northern side of the 215 Beltway at Durango Drive, near Sunset Road.

The store will host Nevada’s largest single-use retail rooftop solar array, consistent with the solar presence at 90% of its U.S. locations.

Without light, design doesn’t exist and cannot be seen or experienced. Increasingly, light goes beyond the purely function to perform an aesthetic role in assuming center stage. Much of this enhanced role is a byproduct of almost limitless possibilities that now exist to use light sources in places and ways that were previously inconceivable.

Light is no longer just about seeing. More and more, it is being used as a design tool integral to creating exciting retail environments. With that in mind, here are five new ways to think about light:

The federal government has extended the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar energy investments through 2019. It provides businesses that install solar panels a tax credit equal to 30% of the total solar installation price. The credit will ramp down to 26% in 2020, 22% in 2021 and to 10% in 2022 for commercial solar installations.

Without light, design doesn’t exist and cannot be seen or experienced. Increasingly, light goes beyond pure function, performing an aesthetic role in assuming center stage. Much of this enhanced role is a by-product of almost limitless possibilities in its placement or flexibility, changeability and even practicality of using light sources in places and ways that were previously inconceivable.

Samsung Electronics America has opened what it describes as a “living lab” and “digital playground” in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan.