STORE SPACES

Orlando, Fla. -- Olive Garden plans to remodel or refresh more than half of its 700 plus restaurants across the United States to its new Tuscan farmhouse-inspired design.

Called “Via Tuscany,” the updated décor includes new tables, chairs and booths, a palette of warm, rustic tones and design elements of a farmhouse in Tuscany. Other updates include new window treatments.

New York City -- OSI Restaurant Partners LLC, operators of Bonefish Grill and Outback Steakhouse as well as several other restaurant chains, told securities analysts that it planned to remodel as many as 150 Outback Steakhouse units and focus of expanding its Bonefish Grill brand this year.

OSI operates or franchises 968 Outback Steakhouses, 152 Bonefish Grills, 233 Carrabba’s Italian Grills, 64 Fleming’s units and 22 Roy’s locations.

New York City -- Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Best Buy and CVS took top honors in Interbrand’s annual ranking of the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands. The U.S. brands are valued in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand.

Las Vegas -- Boulder, Colo.-based Wenger took top honors as Store of the Year in the Association for Retail Environments’ (A.R.E.) annual retail design competition. It’s the first U.S. retail outpost for the company, which is best known as the maker of the Swiss Army Knife.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears and Kmart stores nationwide will participate in the global Earth Hour initiative by turning off or dimming all non-essential lighting March 26 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., including every other television and most computer monitors. The company anticipates saving 80,000 kilowatt hours as a result.

Bentonville, Ark. -- A comprehensive waste reduction program has resulted in Walmart eliminating more than 80% of the waste that would go to landfills from its operations in California. Walmart’s results exceed both the national average landfill diversion rate of 45% and the California rate of 65%. The program is now being implemented across all of the company’s 4,400 U.S. locations, including Sam’s Club units and distribution centers.

New York City -- Chain Store Age will host a Webinar, “Concrete Floors and Moisture Testing,” on Tuesday, April 12, at 2 p.m. (EST). Sponsored by Independent Floor Testing & Inspection, this educational webinar will provide an introduction to concrete floor slabs, the causes of moisture-related floor-covering failures and the latest industry-standard test methods.

Click here to register.

Columbus, Ohio -- Denny Gerdeman, principal and co-founder of Chute Gerdeman, a full-service retail branding and design firm, has been named the 2011 Markopoulos Award winner.

The prestigious honor, named after the late visual merchandising legend Andrew Markopoulos, is presented annually by DDI Magazine to one outstanding industry professional. In winning the award, Gerdeman is recognized for his distinguished career as well as his efforts to give back to the profession.