After reviewing dozens of applications from across the state, the Minnesota Retailers Association is pleased to award Mall of America the Social Responsibility award in the 2019 Minnesota’s Retail Champions program.

“Minnesota businesses are at the forefront of social responsibility and sustainability, and Mall of America is a distinct leader when it comes to innovative programs and modeling what it means to do the right thing,” says Bruce Nustad, Minnesota Retailers Association president. “At Mall of America, sustainability is a way of doing business, and it’s not only important to them, but important to their tenants and guests. Just walking around the Mall, you can see so many ways it works to encourage recycling and reuse while reducing waste. And for every sustainability program you can see, there is another behind the scenes that you can’t, but they are equally important. We congratulate Mall of America on receiving our Social Responsibility award.”

“Mall of America was built with sustainability always at the forefront,” said Jill Renslow, SVP of Business Development & Marketing at Mall of America. “We strive to include a sustainability perspective in all that we do. For example, we have worked hard to design a system that makes recycling easy for our tenants and guests. Few people know we are also home to 30,000 live trees and plants, all while maintaining a pesticide-free environment. Mall of America aims to continue leading efforts in being a good steward of the environment and is honored to accept the 2019 Minnesota Retailers Association Social Responsibility Award.”

Jill Renslow and other Mall of America representatives will accept the award in person during the Retail Rally event on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, at Brookview in Golden Valley beginning at 2:00 p.m. The event features seven 20-minute practical, game-changing, cutting edge retail innovations strategies and ideas. Speakers include local favorite and award-winning news anchor-reporter Robyne Robinson with fiveXfive Public Art.

Mall of America is the sole recipient of the Minnesota’s Retail Champions Social Responsibility award. Seven other organizations will be recognized in other categories such as Retail Community of the Year, Retail Employee of the Year, Social Responsibility, Retail Innovation, Outstanding Achievement, Best Place To Work, and Retailer of the Year.

Retail Rally event information can be found at www.retailrally.com.

After reviewing dozens of applications from across the state, the Minnesota Retailers Association is pleased to recognize Branch with its Vendor Partner of the Year award in the 2019 Minnesota’s Retail Champions program.

“Branch has embraced Minnesota since its move in 2016 and has made a name for itself in a big way,” says Bruce Nustad, Minnesota Retailers Association president. “As a partner to retailers, Branch is helping the industry and its employees adapt to the ever-changing way we work and serve communities. Through its innovative mobile platform, Branch is dedicated to the financial wellness of hourly employees as well as helping retailers  retain their workforce .  We congratulate Branch as the Vendor Partner of the Year.”

“At Branch, we partner with retail employers and their employees to help overcome obstacles hourly workers face,” says Atif Siddiqi, CEO and founder of Branch. “We are constantly analyzing trends and talking to retail employees about what they need and want so we can work collaboratively with our retail partners to open up opportunities in the  employee-employer relationship.”

Atif Siddiqi will accept the award in person and discuss what retail employees want today during the Retail Rally event on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, at the Brookview in Golden Valley beginning at 2:00 p.m. The event features seven 20-minute practical, game-changing, cutting edge retail innovations strategies and ideas, including local favorite and award-winning news anchor-reporter Robyne Robinson with fiveXfive Public Art.

Branch is the sole recipient of the Minnesota’s Retail Champions Vendor Partner of the Year award. Seven other organizations will be recognized in other categories such as Best Place To Work, Outstanding Achievement, Retail Employee of the Year, Social Responsibility, Retail Innovation, Customer Experience, and Retailer of the Year.

Retail Rally event information can be found at www.retailrally.com.

The Minnesota Retailers Association (MnRA) proud to announce the winners of the 2017 Minnesota’s Retail Champion Awards.

Winners will accept their awards in person during the inaugural Retail Rally event on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017 at the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas (1000 Lasalle Ave,, Minneapolis) beginning at 5:15 p.m.

“We are proud to recognize 12 innovative retailers and partners that rose to the top following a robust process to identify Minnesota’s Retail Champions,” says Bruce Nustad, Minnesota Retailers Association president. “The retail industry has a deep impact on Minnesota communities, and these award recipients are truly representative of what’s great about retail across the state.”

The 2017 Minnesota’s Retail Champion Award recipients are:

Academic Partner of the Year
University of St. Thomas

Best Place to Work
Thrifty White Pharmacy

Customer Experience
Uffda Shop

Elected Official of the Year
Minneapolis City Councilmember Blong Yang

Advocate of the Year
Steven Rush, Holiday Companies

Outstanding Achievement
Maureen Bausch, Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee

Retail Community of the Year
Hopkins Business & Civic Association

Retail Employee of the Year
Brooke Borg, 36 Lyn Refuel Station

Retail Innovation
Duluth Pack

Retailer of the Year
Norby’s

Social Responsibility
Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity ReStore

Vendor Partner of the Year
Master Technology Group

The Minnesota Retailers Association started the award process by putting out a statewide call for nominations in the 12 categories.  A panel of peer judges reviewed nearly six dozen nominations and selected the top nominee in each category.

Tickets to the reception and awards are available online at RetailRally.com.