Verizon Expands Energy-Efficiency Efforts, Reduces GHG Emissions
from Environmental Leader
Verizon's latest corporate responsibility report includes environmental initiatives that have increased the telecommunications company’s energy efficiency and recycling efforts as well as reduced its greenhouse gas emissions and CO2 intensity. By applying energy-efficiency measures in its buildings, Verizon has reduced its energy usage by 16.5 million kilowatts. The New York-based company’s total energy reduction measures in 2008 cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 83,900 metric tons. More

Retail Shares Propel Rally on Wall Street
from The New York Times
Optimism about the retail sector carried Wall Street higher yesterday, even as the government reported that more workers were filing first-time jobless claims and receiving unemployment benefits. And another successful auction of Treasury notes helped to soothe worries that interest rates were poised to spike and choke off a recovery. More

Why Every Manager Should Understand Store Design and Visual Marketing
from DMSRetail
Your store's design elements - the space planning, fixtures and casework, signage and graphics, visual merchandising, lighting - should be your No. 1 salesperson all by itself. If a customer has 10 questions over the course of their shopping experience in your store, the store itself should be answering at least seven of them, leaving the store staff to handle the higher level sales questions that simply close the deal. More

Shoppers' Willingness to Splurge on Premium Jeans
from The Miami Herald
Shoppers' willingness to splurge on premium jeans has designer denim companies faring better than many retailers -- despite high price tags. No recession gets between Tabitha Matis and her True Religion jeans. Since getting hooked on the brand earlier this year, Matis has bought two pairs of jeans and two pairs of shorts. Despite the prices – anywhere from $170 to more than $300 – Matis says they're worth it. More

Best Buy Enters Used Video Game Market
from CNBC
Best Buy has launched a trial program allowing video gamers to trade in their old titles for store credit. The big box retailer is the latest in a string of companies that is exploring ways to tap into the growing used game market, which currently is valued at between $2 billion to $3 billion annually. More

Darden Plans 50 New Locations
from GlobeSt.com
Darden Restaurants Inc. plans 50 to 55 new locations in the coming fiscal year, after having opened 71 during the past year. The proprietor of Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse chains, among others, posted a 9 percent sales increase for the year ending May 31, totaling $7.2 billion. More

Apparel and Accessories Retailers’ Web Sites Responded Well in May
from Internet Retailer
Apparel and accessories merchants delivered the best response time in May to shoppers with a high broadband connection. Shoppers with a high broadband connection could visit an apparel and accessories retailer’s web site in an average time of 6.11 seconds, compared with computers and electronics retailers (6.82 seconds), mass merchants (7.06), and specialty merchants (7.89). More

Bed Bath & Beyond earns $87.2 million in fiscal 1Q
from The Associated Press via Forbes
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. said that its fiscal first-quarter profit climbed 14 percent as sales rose after the liquidation of one of its closest competitors. For the three months that ended May 30, the home decor chain earned $87.2 million, or 34 cents per share. That compares with a profit of $76.8 million, or 30 cents per share, during the same period last year. More

Texas-Size Deal Boasts Strong Dallas Roots
from The Wall Street Journal
Highland Park Village, a landmark Spanish Mediterranean-style shopping center near downtown Dallas, was recently purchased for about $170 million by a legendary oil family, in one of the priciest retail-property sales in Dallas in recent years. The names of the buyers and sellers of the posh 250,000-square-foot center, viewed by some as Dallas's answer to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, read like a page out of a social register. More

Sears Tower Slated for $350M Sustainability Makeover
from Environmental Leader
Sears Tower, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, is about to get a $350-million makeover that is designed to significantly reduce its energy use by up to 80 percent and cut its CO2 emissions. The retrofit project, over the next five years, includes major upgrades to windows, heating and cooling systems, lighting, elevators, restroom fixtures and condensation recovery systems, along with wind and solar installations and a green roof. The energy savings will equal 68-million kilowatt hours annually or 150,000 barrels of oil every year. More

J.C. Penney Shares Rise Following Upgrade
from The Associated Press via Forbes
Shares of J.C. Penney Co. rose this week after an analyst upgraded the department store operator, citing improving retail trends. Shares rose $1.75, or 6.6 percent, to $28.35 during afternoon trading as the broader market climbed. The stock has traded between $13.71 and $44.20 during the past year. More

CONVENIENCE RULES: 7-Eleven, Others in Convenience Category Proving Resilient Through Recession
from CoStar Group
The convenience store / gas station category have been an unsung hero in the current retail real estate landscape, proving to be more recession-resistant than most other retail property types, even continuing to expand and account for a significant amount of sale and lease transaction activity across the nation. CoStar Group currently tracks more than 23,300 convenience store / service station properties across the country totaling 69 million square feet of building area (average building size is about 3,000 square feet) that are typically located on highly visible acres of land situated on high-traffic corners. More