STORE SPACES

Conshohocken, Pa. -- Ikea plans to install solar energy panels on two East Coast stores: Paramus, N.J., and Stoughton, Mass. Pending governmental permits, the rooftop installation will begin in the new year, with completion expected in spring 2011. The Paramus installation will have 4,600 panels generating 1,354,000 kWh/year, while the Stoughton site will have 2,800 panels generating 725,000 kWh/year.

Seattle -- Retail design firm Callison said Tuesday it has added Shawn Rush as associate principal in the company’s Seattle office.

Rush, a LEED AP, will focus on business development in the Global Retail studio, which includes national accounts and workplace interiors. Her role also consists of identifying developing trends and targeting market opportunities for Callison’s domestic offices.

Cincinnati - Macy’s announced it plans to build a major new fulfillment center near Martinsburg in Berkeley County, W.V., to support the continued growth of its online business. The site is located about 80 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. 

Construction on the 1.3 million-square-foot facility is expected to begin in spring 2011, with operations beginning in April 2012 and order shipments beginning in summer 2012. 

Yamaguchi City, Japan -- Fast Retailing Co. said Friday it aims to open at least 200 Uniqlo stores in the U.S. by 2020.

Asia’s largest clothing chain said it seeks to raise sales sixfold in a decade.

“The United States is one of the most important markets for us,” Shin Odake, CEO of Uniqlo’s U.S. unit, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We want to become the number one retailer in the world.”

New York City -- Whole Foods Market’s store in Lake Grove has become the first supermarket  in the United States to be awarded with both a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council as well as a Three Green Globe certification from the Green Building Initiative.

The store, which opened in March 2010, is the third of Whole Foods Market’s 22 locations in the Northeast region to receive a LEED certification, and the first to be recognized by the Green Building Initiative.

El Segundo, Calif. -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has announced a partnership with REC Solar, a leading solar electric system provider in the United States, to install roof-mount solar systems on nine stores in Arizona. The installation of the systems will begin in March 2011.

The combined 410 kW of installed solar systems will produce an estimated 620,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, the equivalent of reducing 22 million lbs. of CO2 emissions -- or removing 28 million car-driven miles -- over the next 25 years.

Somerset, N.J. -- Philips Lighting Wednesday announced that Macy's has selected its custom-designed Philips EnduraLED solid-state LED lamp as part of the nationwide program to retrofit 117,000 halogen-based accent lighting in 86 of its U.S. stores.

New York City -- Forever 21’s massive Times Square flagship, a shop that sells ice cream made to order and frozen with liquid nitrogen, and a new beauty-and-wellness concept in Hong Kong are on a list of the hottest new stores around the globe.

The list comes from the folks behind the cutting-edge, London-based retail consultancy echochamber.com: