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Kohl's said it will expand its solar program by nearly 25 percent in 2012, installing solar panels at approximately 30 additional locations. While some of the new solar sites will be in states such as California, Connecticut and Maryland where Kohl's already has a solar presence, additional sites will be located in new solar states for Kohl's, including Massachusetts, New York and Ohio. On average, the solar panels will supply 20 percent to 50 percent of each store's energy. Construction of the solar panel arrays on the first phase of stores began this spring.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said in a Friday emailed statement that the co-heads of its technology unit @WalmartLabs are leaving the company. Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman, who ran the 200- person unit in San Bruno, Calif., are taking some time off from the industry, according to the statement. The pair took the helm of @WalmartLabs when Wal-Mart bought their company Kosmix last year. Wal-Mart said the rest of the technology team will remain intact.

eBay announced plans to build the next phase of its flagship data center with renewable energy as its primary power source. Partnering with Bloom Energy, eBay is building the country's largest non-utility fuel cell installation. Renewable energy typically supplements the electric grid, but eBay is designing renewable energy into the core of its global commerce platform, incorporating 30 Bloom Energy servers into the new data center's energy architecture. The electric utility grid will be used only as backup. eBay CEO John Donahoe said, "We believe the future of commerce can be greener. Technology-led innovation is changing retail and revolutionizing

Amazon is changing its referral ad fee structure for its Amazon Associates program. Amazon had been giving a fixed rate of 15% for sales on MyHabit, its fashion site. Effective July 1, 2012, Amazon will lower the commission to 8%. However, commissions for its Endless.com site will remain at 15%. Amazon.com is also changing rates for the following product categories within the Amazon Associates Program: Magazine Products sold on Amazon.com will increase to a 25% fixed rate from a volume-based rate of 4 - 8.5%; Grocery Products sold on Amazon.com will move to a 4% fixed rate from a

Costco may expand its operations to Europe soon, and is mulling opening stores in Germany, Italy, France and Spain. Bloomberg reports James Murphy, international executive vice president for the Issaquah,Wash.-based retailing giant, said the company hasn't decided which European country will be first for its expansion there, and the first European store won't open for the "next couple of years."

Von Maur has begun construction on an expansion of its e-commerce fulfillment center to support continued growth in its web business. Projected for completion in October 2012, the expansion will add an additional 73,000 square feet to the company's current 46,000-square-foot center and create more than 50 new jobs in Davenport, Iowa over the next three years. The expansion reflects the Von Maur's successful online business, which has seen triple-digit percentage sales increases every year since 2008.

Pittsburgh Business Times Best Buy, which suffered the losses of its CEO and founder recently, is trying to regain its footing and is looking toward the future. The electronics retailer, which has a number of stores in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, used its annual meeting to tell shareholders of its plans. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Business Times, wrote about the presentation by interim CEO G. Mike Mikan on Thursday. Mikan's plan is centered around fortifying the company's customer service as well as increasing the pace of its Connected Store plan that