Think Green manual marks 18 years
Illinois retailers ahead of the curve with green programs
The past two years have been a busy time in the green movement. Retailers have come to the forefront for programs to protect the environment.
Terminology such as energy efficiency, carbon footprint and sustainability became buzzwords throughout the retail industry. These terms dominated the conversation at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference in 2008 and filtered into the mainstream media.
During the last two years, The Retail Register ran a series of stories featuring the pro-environmental efforts of IRMA member companies. This year, IRMA took the lead in the Illinois Energy Star Appliance Rebate Program, helping appliance dealers throughout the state sell 62,129 energy efficient appliances in just 11 hours on April 16.
Despite how it may appear, green programs are far from new to the industry. Illinois retailers were actually well ahead of the curve in 1992 when IRMA, along with the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources, published a manual for retailers called “Think Green.”
This month marks the 18th anniversary of “Think Green.”
“It really is remarkable to look back and realize how much retailers involved themselves in protecting the environment long before it became the right thing to do and was expected of them as it is today,” said IRMA President & CEO David F. Vite. “It shows that the retail industry in Illinois is truly interested in the green movement, not because they have to, but because they believe in it.”
“Think Green” was the culmination of more than four years of effort between IRMA, the Illinois General Assembly, and the IDENR. IRMA worked with the Department of Energy to develop a comprehensive environmental plan of action for retail companies, particularly independent store owners.
The book’s purpose was to explain the basic rationale and components behind a comprehensive environmental action plan, give practical step-by-step instructions, and provide ready sources to take action. It didn’t promise to give all the answers, but hoped to provide many of the right questions.
Think Green showed how retailers can help, why they should get involved and what they should do. It explained how to conduct an environmental audit, set up a recycling program and educate consumers.
It outlined a 10-step program starting with a waste audit and developing into a comprehensive environmental program with specific goals. Ideas included reducing packaging and asking vendors and suppliers to do the same; donating old furniture to charity and re-using office paper by cutting it into smaller message pads.
Green Retailing
A synopsis of past Retail Register ‘green’ stories
When completed, Jewel-Osco’s building on the corner of DesPlaines Avenue and Kinzie Street in Chicago will help the environment in myriad ways, from reducing construction garbage to reducing carbon emissions. (January 2008)
Abt Electronics’ green program includes a five-year-old natural gas generator that powers the store for nine hours a day, a free-standing recycling building, and a fleet of trucks running on biodiesel fuel. (February 2008)
In a program exemplifying its commitment to the environment, Kohl’s will nearly quadruple its number of LEED-certified retail locations nationwide. (March 2008)
Staples’ long-standing commitment to sustainable business practices is based on recycling, offering an assortment of over 3,000 eco-friendly products, investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy and educating customers and associates about sustainability. (May 2008)
In January, Safeway, Inc., parent company of Dominick’s Finer Foods, Oak Brook, became one of the first major retailers in the country to convert its entire U.S. truck fleet to the cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 34,000 metric tons. (June 2008)
Wal-Mart improved its environmental efforts in its second-generation of energy-saving stores, featuring a white roof that reflects heat, recycled construction material for chair rails, baseboards and flooring, and sensor-activated low-flow bathroom faucets. (August 2008)
When it comes to conserving energy, JCPenney Company turns to its best resource – its 155,000 associates, counting on environmental stewardship from the people who run its 1,082 stores throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. (September 2008)
Minneapolis-based Target is willing to take old industrial lots, empty buildings and waste storage properties and turn them into neatly landscaped retail stores. (September 2008)
Sustainability has emerged as a business imperative as food retailers strive to reduce energy costs and build shopper loyalty in a highly competitive industry, according to the Food Marketing Institute. (October 2008)
The Home Depot has gone to great lengths to do its part in helping protect the world’s forests, from buying wood from only certified forests to encouraging its vendors to practice sustainable forestry. (November 2008)
Sears Holdings Corporation has worked to reduce and phase out Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) in both its packaging and merchandise and its policy demands the same effort from its vendor. (December 2008)
Kroger is putting a number of environmental investments into its stores, from upgraded refrigeration motors and motion-sensor lights to fuel-saving transportation software and an improved plastic recycling program. (January 2009)
Best Buy Co., Inc.’s new prototype building design shows how the company can be environmentally responsible while being fiscally accountable. (February 2009)
Facebook builds customer relationships
Just as the Internet turned brick and mortar retailers into click and mortar retailers, social media sites like Facebook give businesses another way to reach their customers. They are the newest channels in multi-channel retailing.
Social media is the fastest growing way for retailers to connect with shoppers – both current and potential customers. About 20 percent of all Internet users – according to Nielsen – have replaced traditional navigational tools like google.com and yahoo.com with a social network.
This means shoppers are using these sites to find online stores and resources through references from friends. Because social media communication spreads exponentially, the potential volume of referral traffic is huge. And because the references are coming from friends with whom consumers choose to communicate, the referrals are high-quality.
While there are many social media sites – Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, and LinkedIn, to name a few – Facebook has become the most widespread. According to Vitrue, a social media management company, there are nearly 500 million users on Facebook every month. And Facebook claims its users are sharing more than 25 billion pieces of content each month on the site.
In its most basic form, Facebook is simply an online community – a place for people with common interests to connect on the Internet. But it also offers retailers a diverse menu of options including, selling, marketing, handling complaints, and growing a customer base.
Social networks give consumers an opportunity to rely on personal relationships to determine what’s worthwhile to read, watch and buy online. Because each social network allows users to link to other networks and websites, sites like Facebook offer retailers a steady stream of potential new customers.
Facebook members expect the businesses and organizations they deal with to have a Facebook page, according to WhizBang, a retail training consultant which recently published a short book introducing retailers to Facebook. The key, WhizBang states, is to link your Facebook page to your store’s website strategically so users can easily travel back and forth between the two.
Facebook is designed for building relationships, not selling. While some companies like WhizBang suggest retailers should build relationships on Facebook and sell on their website, there are opportunities to sell directly from your Facebook page.
But some companies already sell on their Facebook page. Technology vendors can create a ‘shop’ tab on your Facebook page. Once a shopper places an order, the tech company communicates the order to the store’s back-end system to complete the sale. The customer never has to move off of Facebook to make the purchase.
Many retailers find Facebook is a great marketing tool. It allows stores market to specific customers in a demographic group such as age, gender or location. WhizBang! suggests scheduling special events or promotions and then sending invites to Facebook fans living near the event’s location.
Because Facebook allows shoppers to engage each other about shopping experiences, positive as well as negative comments are posted. Retailers must be able to use the same tools to answer those concerns and protect their reputation.
Kraft Foods had to react after a customer found a glob of mold found inside a Capri Sun juice pouch. The company found its Facebook page dominated by pictures of the mold and comments by consumers outraged at what they perceived as a slow corporate response to the issue.
Because of the speed of social media communications, Kraft had to move quickly. So the Northfield, Illinois-based company created a special section of its Facebook page devoted to answering Capri Sun-related questions.
The issue proved how businesses can never again sweep these consumer-related issues under the rug – if they don’t offer an acceptable public response, the consumers will create their own public response.
But the medium is so new to many retailers that measuring its true value is still an inexact science.
According to Advertising Age magazine, a pair of social-media technology companies, Syncapse and Vitrue, attempted to measure the value of Facebook fans. Because each company used different metrics, each came up with a vastly different result.
Syncapse said the average fan was worth $136.38, based on the average amount they spent, their higher rate of loyalty, propensity to recommend, and connection to a particular brand. However, Vitrue said the fan is worth just $3.60, based on the advertising price of a banner ad compared to the number of Facebook fans.
The article, written by Judy Shapiro, chief brand strategist at CloudLinux, said while the both studies proved inconclusive, they did point to the need for a coordinated industry approach to metrics to measure social media.
Gregg Ziegler 1921-2010
Retailer remembered for racing, service
Gregg Ziegler was known throughout Illinois and the Midwest as a highly successful hardware retailer. But in other circles, he was a race car driver, a Marine officer and a community leader.
Ziegler, IRMA’s Illinois Retailer of the Year in 1983, died on June 22 at his Barrington home. He was 89.
His father, Lyle, was one of the founders of Ziegler’s Ace Hardware and he joined the family business after serving in World War II and then graduating from Kalamazoo College in Michigan.
Besides helping to build a chain of hardware stores in the Fox River Valley, Ziegler followed his passion for racing, setting a NASCAR record in the Flying Mile event at Daytona Beach in 1960. He was inducted into the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
He also showed a passion for his community, serving as a past president of the Elgin Businessmen’s Association, the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, the Elgin United Way, the Illinois Retail Hardware Association, and the Advisory Board of St. Joseph Hospital Elgin.
Mr. Ziegler also served as past director and vice chairman of the Ace Hardware board of directors, past chairman of the board of trustees of the First United Methodist Church of Elgin, past director of the First National Bank of Elgin, past director and founder of Larkin Bank of Elgin, and founding director and chairman emeritus of the First Community Bank of Elgin.
His son, Brian, the current President of Ziegler’s Ace Hardware, has been an IRMA Director since 1984 and long-time Treasurer for the IRMA Board of Directors. The IRMA staff offers its sincere condolences to the Ziegler family.
J.R. Phillip 1925-2010
Florist meshed family and business
While growing up in his parents’ small floral shop in Cicero, James Robert “J.R.” Phillip learned a lot about flowers. But he also learned about the value of a family working together.
So even when he led the expansion with a suburban store in 1951, Phillip was determined to grow the business along with his family. While Phillip’s Flowers and Gifts now has 10 suburban locations, six other family members lead a cast of more than 100 employees.
Mr. Phillip, chairman emeritus of Phillip’s Flowers, died June 22 at his home in Westmont. He was 84.
When the business was named IRMA’s Illinois Retailer of the Year in 2005, Mr. Phillip commented on his father James’ expectations for keeping the family and business together.
“What he taught us was, you work together, you play together and you live together,” he said at the time. “It’s a way of life. Anything different would be foreign to us.”
Survivors working in the business include his brother, Russ, sons Jim, Don and Baxter, and nephews Russ, Jr., and Derek. He is also survived by a sister, Lee Phillip Bell, eight grandchildren and a great-grandson.
Born in 1925, Mr. Phillip served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II and earned a business degree from Northwestern University in 1948. He worked as an administrator and fresh flower buyer for his family business, keeping office hours even after his retirement.
He was a co-founder and director of the Bank of LaGrange Park and the Metro Chicago Florist Delivery Co-Op and a longtime member of the American Academy of Floriculture. He was also a founding member and past elder of Christ Church of Oak Brook.
The IRMA staff offers its sincere condolences to the Phillip family.
Jobless rate dips in May
The Illinois seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped 0.4 point to 10.8 percent in May, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security. It was the largest over-the-month decline in 17 years.
The three-month moving average decreased 0.2 point to 11.2 percent in May, its first decline in four years. So far, Illinois added 70,000 jobs in 2010, including 16,700 in May.
The manufacturing sector added 2,400 jobs, its best showing in 15 years, while Professional and Business Services added 1,300 jobs. Illinois has added more jobs than its Midwestern counterparts so far this year and its rate of job growth outpaced the national rate.
U.S. House OKs Swipe Fee reform
The U.S. House on June 30 approved financial services reform legislation which includes limiting Interchange Fees or Swipe Fees on credit card purchases. The Senate is expected to approve the bill as well before sending it to the President.
The legislation will help hold down the $20 billion in debit card swipe fees charged annually by the banking industry and allow merchants to give discounts to customers who don’t use credit cards, said Mallory Duncan, Vice President and General Counsel of the National Retail Federation.
“The House has sent a clear message that big banks shouldn’t be allowed to drive up consumer prices by charging fees that are outrageously out of proportion to the actual cost of processing a transaction,” she said.
Swipe fees are a percentage of the transaction charged by card company banks each time a card is swiped to pay for a purchase. The fees average between 1 and 2 percent for debit cards and 2 percent or more for credit cards.
Tax rates to change July 1
Cook County sales tax rate will drop to 1.25 percent in July, decreasing the Chicago rate from 10.25 to 9.75 percent.
Throughout the state, some other locally imposed sales tax rates will also change on July 1. In Union County, the rate will rise 0.75 percent; in Stark County, it will increase by 0.5 percent; and in Lawrence County, the rate moves up a full 1 percent.
For a complete list of all the tax rates, use the Tax Rate Finder on the Illinois Department of Revenue’s website at tax.illinois.gov.
If you would like to purchase a laminated sales tax rate card, send $3 per card to the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, 19 S. LaSalle St., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60603. Tell us what percent you need and where you would like the tax rate card sent.
