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Tyler, Texas -- Brookshire Grocery Co. recently became one of a select number of grocery retailers nation-wide to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill partnership, which works with supermarkets to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change.

Parking lot maintenance is taking top billing in retail, as a growing number of facilities managers realize that extending the life cycle of an existing parking lot paves the way toward reduced expense in the long run.

Chain Store Age talked with Rose Paving’s C.B. Kuzlik about retail’s renewed focus on maintenance in today’s cost-conscious climate.

What role does weather play in parking lot management?

Today’s retail associates have more selling tools at their disposal than ever before — not the least of which is the increasingly popular tablet. The mobile device has taken not only front-of-house selling to new levels but has added efficiencies and enhanced employee productivity to back-of-house functions as well. Chain Store Age talked with Mike Stinson, VP marketing of Motion Computing, about the trend toward tablets.

What are some of the most prevalent uses of tablets in the retail environment?

New York City -- Barnes & Noble took the wraps off its Nook Tablet, a $249 tablet for reading e-books, streaming movies and browsing the web. The new tablet, which is lighter and faster than other Nook devices, offers access to popular apps including Netflix, Hulu Plus and Pandora.

Barnes & Noble also on Monday reduced the entry-level price for its Nook line of digital readers to $99.

Sprouts Farmers Market in Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Calif., has joined an elite club: It is only the third store in the nation to achieve the Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership higher honor, Platinum Level Certification.

Bernardino, Calif.  -- Three new Stater Bros. a that three supermarkets have earned the prestigious EPA GreenChill Gold Certification for meeting tough standards and using refrigerants that do not harm the earth's ozone layer.

Stater Bros. is the only Southern California grocer to have three stores that are certified at the Gold Level, which is the second highest award from GreenChill.

EPA's GreenChill Partnership works with supermarkets to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change.

Bloomington, Minn. -- Mall of America plans to replace 5,400 metal halide and high-pressure sodium fixtures in the parking ramps with specially designed new fixtures LED technology from Acuity Brands. The installation will begin in July. It is part of a multi-faceted sustainability program that will be announced during the coming months. Anticipated completion will be this fall.

Fresh Madison Market, in downtown Madison, Wis., operates on three guiding principles: sustainability, eating well and green living. The 18,000-sq.-ft. store, which opened last year and has a fresh foods focus, adheres to eco-friendly practices throughout its operation and boasts an extensive recycling program that comes complete with its own cardboard baler.


Dallas -- Lennox International, a leader in the heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets announced it has signed a definitive agreement with The Manitowoc Co. to acquire substantially all the assets of its Kysor/Warren business.

Kysor/Warren is a leading manufacturer of refrigerated systems and display cases for supermarkets throughout North America.