Data & Analytics

Aurora, Col.  -- Walgreens has expanded its renewable energy initiative to Colorado. Clean-energy provider SolarCity announced it will implement solar systems at 22 Walgreens stores across 14 different cities in Colorado in the coming months, with the first installation completed in Aurora.

Worthington, Ohio -- Three high-profile big-box retailers received high marks for their mobile experiences, according to a survey by Prosper Insights & Analytics. In fact, among mobile users, 28.9% have used their mobile devices to shop at Walmart, 27.7% at Target, and 22% at Best Buy.

Polaroid Fotobar, a new retail concept from Polaroid, has opened its first location, in Delray Beach, Fla. The 2,000-sq.-ft. store is designed to allow consumers to take the images from their smartphones and tablet devices and easily turn them into “museum-quality” art that can be framed and hung on a wall or displayed on a desk. 

Polaroid Fotobar has a modern, streamlined look, with sleek lines. The Delray Beach location will serve as a prototype for nine additional cites due to open this year, including locations in New York, Las Vegas, and Boston.

New York -- Whole Foods Market announced that Gotham Greens will be its operating partner in the nation’s first commercial- scale greenhouse farm integrated within a supermarket. The 20,000-sq.-ft. greenhouse, which is currently under construction on the roof of the forthcoming Whole Foods Market store in Gowanus, Brooklyn, is scheduled to open in late 2013.

San Francisco -- Google made a quiet announcement on Friday that it is officially launching the pilot of its Google Shopping Express program, which features online delivery initially in the San Francisco Bay area.

In a notice on the company’s website, Google Shopping Express product management director Tom Fallows described the program as a “new experiment,” one that offers “a local delivery service that we hope will make it possible for you to get the items you order online the same day, and at a low cost."

New York -- Consumer spending increased in February by the most in five months as incomes rose and the job market improved.

The Commerce Department said on Friday consumer spending rose 0.7% last month, after an upwardly revised increase from 0.2% to 0.4% in January.  

Atlanta -- Transwestern’s Atlanta office announced Thursday that Russell Lipscomb has been promoted to SVP of property management services.

In his new role, Lipscomb will expand his oversight into business development initiatives and engage in new pursuits to further expand Transwestern’s footprint throughout the Southeast. He will continue to direct a team of 43 property management professionals and provide oversight for all Atlanta-based property management assignments.

San Jose, Calif. -- Forty percent of retailers have no online fraud prevention in place, despite the fact that 85% consider online fraud prevention a high priority, according to a survey by ThreatMetrix, a provider of integrated cybercrime prevention solutions.

The study, “The ThreatMetrix 2012 State of Cybercrime Study,” was conducted by Info-Tech Research Group and surveyed U.S. business managers and IT executives within retail and financial services organizations on the level of cybersecurity solutions they have in place.