Three sustainable retail success stories from a green spring

Spring is a season of renewal, and retailers have recognized that tradition with sustainability efforts.

Whether it’s observing Earth Month or the appearance of new leaves and grass after the desolate barrenness of the winter, spring is seen as the "green" season. In honor of spring’s honorary role as the harbinger of rebirth, health and growth, let’s take a look at three retailers that reached impressive sustainability achievements during these past few months. – Pacsun, Sheetz and Walmart

Pacsun

Teen-oriented specialty apparel retailer Pacsun began making its curated resale concept, "PS Vintage," available in select stores across the U.S. in April 2026. Initially launched online in December 2025, PS Vintage features thousands of one-of-a-kind pieces for men and women, 

[READ MORE: Pacsun launches curated resale shop]

The retailer hand-selects the assortment, which includes graphic tees, hoodies, denim, jackets and more, by size, era and style in collaboration with online secondhand retail platform Springy.

Pacsun plans to continuously refresh PS Vintage assortments, creating a rotating in-store experience designed to drive discovery and repeat visits, the company said. Items are labeled using the Springy system by size, year and category. 

Sheetz

Pennsylvania-based convenience store retailer Sheetz reduced energy consumption by 20% across more than 830 stores from 2019 to spring 2026. That’s the year Sheetzjoined the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Challenge, a voluntary initiative in which participating organizations commit to reducing energy consumption by 20% over 10 years.

Sheetz is working to reduce its environmental impact through the following measures:

•Sustainable store designs: Since 2011, all new Sheetz stores have been built with LED lighting and low-flow water fixtures.  Older stores have been upgraded with LED lighting, variable frequency drives and high-efficiency HVAC systems.

•Building optimization & controls: Systemwide retro-commissioning and enhanced building management systems improve efficiency across HVAC, refrigeration and lighting. Sheetz earned the Innovation Award from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for HVAC control excellence in 2024.

•Energy data & monitoring: Equipment submetering enables detailed energy tracking, supporting targeted efficiency improvements and operational optimization.

•Recycling & waste diversion: More than 95% of Sheetz stores and all corporate locations recycle corrugated cardboard, with expanded recycling for plastics, metals, glass and paper across 381 stores where services are available.

•Electric Vehicle (EV) charging: Sheetz offers EV charging stations across more than 130 locations, one of the nation’s largest EV charging networks.

Walmart

Walmart is amping up its efforts to ensure it sources sustainable cotton. In April 2026, the discount giant joined the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, a voluntary, science-based sustainability program and traceability platform for U.S. cotton that provides quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement. 

The program collects field-level data across six sustainability metrics — land use, soil health, water management, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and fiber quality — which is aggregated, then verified by an independent third party.

As a member of the Trust Protocol, Walmart will gain access to aggregated, verifiable data on sustainability practices from U.S. cotton growers and have the ability to track the movement of U.S. Cotton and Protocol cotton through its supply chain. 

Joining the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol aligns with Walmart's ambitions to source more sustainable cotton and help more sustainably manage, protect and/or restore at least 50 million acres of land and 1 million square miles of ocean by 2030.