News

The number of U.S. businesses with solar energy installations grew to a new high in 2015. Enterprises ranging from family-run companies to some of the country’s biggest corporations are producing their own energy, cutting operating expenses and achieving environmental sustainability.

A recent report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) provides data and insights into the diverse mix of corporate offices, office buildings, retail, manufacturing, data centers, distribution and logistics centers, and convention centers that have gone solar.

Pacific Sunwear of California has hired financial advisors to help deal with its maturing debt, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In 2011, PacSun received a $100 million credit line from Wells Fargo and a $60 million loan from an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital. Both loans will be due in December, the report said.

Similar to other teen retailers, PacSun has been dealing with increased online competition and a shift in teen spending. The company has had three consecutive quarters of declining sales and negative same-store sales.

A new retailer aims to blend physical retailing with e-commerce — and to do it with Latin flair. The concept, Star World, is the brainchild of veteran retailer Jerry Azarkman, formerly with (and co-founder of) Curacao, a Los Angeles-based department store targeting Hispanics.

Star World made its debut in October, opening a two-level 30,000-sq.-ft. store in Huntington Park, California.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the industry was embroiled in the “bricks versus clicks” debate. On one side were the traditionalists, who were sure that online shopping would never really catch on (much less ever occur on a phone). On the other side were the true believers, who had stores going the way of the dinosaur in no time flat.

Need to fill empty space? Walk-in medical clinics hold a lot of tenant promise, as regional companies such as New York’s City Practice Group and national chains such as Humana’s Concentra increasingly find homes in spaces vacated by shuttered retailers in strip malls and shopping centers.

Hospitals are also getting in the game. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, for example, is building clinics in retail settings throughout the Nashville metro area.

Fully customized pizzas tailored to each guest’s liking, served up in minutes. That’s the idea behind PizzaRev, a Los Angeles-based fast-casual pizza chain whose “build-your-own” approach is bringing food customization to a new level.

Toys“R”Us is adding some communications expertise from Best Buy as the toy retailer announced it has named a new executive vice president.

The retailer said Amy von Walter will join the company as Executive Vice President, Global Communications and Public Relations, effective March 14. She will report directly to Chairman and CEO Dave Brandon.

If you were an Uber user in Austin, Texas, this fall, you might have been surprised to see the option to take a horse and buggy instead of a car appear on your smartphone.

The tongue-in-cheek offer was part of Uber’s effort to inform and mobilize customers in its fight against what the company contended were antiquated regulations being considered by local government.