Retailers Drive Profits Through Green Initiatives, SSA & Company Study Finds

NEW YORK, NY, Jun 30 (MARKET WIRE) --
Retailers who pursue a green agenda have a substantial opportunity to
simultaneously reduce costs. So finds a new study by SSA & Company, a
global operations consulting firm. The study: "Going Green in the Retail
Industry," draws on more than 20 environmental projects with some of the
world's leading retail companies. Among the results, the study found that
retailers were able to improve their performance by an average of 30-40%
in areas such as energy consumption, recycling, and waste reduction,
saving those companies tens of millions of dollars annually.

"Going green isn't just good corporate citizenship -- it's a strategy for
driving out inefficiency," says Suzanne Long, SSA & Company's Retail
Practice Leader. "Retailers spend millions of dollars on their green
agendas, but never see the opportunity those agendas present to operate
smarter, more efficiently, and with lower cost."

According to Long, a 15-year veteran of the retail industry, efforts to
reduce environmental waste ought to be a huge target for retail managers.
A recent study of the grocery industry, for example, estimated that nearly
$20 billion worth of food products are thrown into the waste stream
annually. "Retailers should be attacking these issues with full force, not
only because it's good for the environment, but because it's an incredible
opportunity to improve financial performance."

"It is a myth that going green means increased costs," says David Niles,
President of SSA & Company. "The fact is, environmental waste and
inefficiency are no different than other types of waste and inefficiency
in a business. By using factual data, solid analysis, and focused effort,
we have been able to save retailers tens of millions of dollars annually."

SSA & Company helps retailers go green profitably through a unique
methodology founded on the principles of Lean Six Sigma, a highly-regarded
process improvement methodology. The three critical steps in this
methodology, as applied to environmental projects, include:

1. Identifying the greatest sources of waste
2. Conducting statistical analysis of the causes of that waste
3. Addressing process fundamentals that make green initiatives possible

"Going Green in the Retail Industry" also provides examples of the
dramatic impact of utilizing process improvement methodologies in green
projects. For example, one major US retail company:

- Reduced cardboard and plastic waste by more than 4 million pounds
annually
- Reduced compactor waste by more than 10 million pounds annually
- Reduced total bag utilization by 8%, or more than 14 million bags per
year

"SSA & Company gave us the methods and tools to dramatically improve
how we approach our green agenda," says one retail company executive.
"More importantly, they did it in a way that benefited the bottom line."

"We're very excited about the impact our approach is having on the
market," says Niles. "Retail companies need an approach to
environmentalism that benefits both the earth and the bottom line. At SSA
& Company, we believe our process-focused approach to going green is
helping retail companies achieve that goal."

Reporters who would like a copy of "Going Green in the Retail Industry"
should contact ssaandco@cognitomedia.com. For additional information about
SSA & Company's approach to environmentalism in the Retail Industry,
please contact Suzanne Long at (212)332-3790 or slong@ssaandco.com, or
visit www.ssaandco.com.

ABOUT SSA & COMPANY

SSA & Company, with its offices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, helps
leading companies increase their margins, grow revenues and improve
working capital across multiple industry sectors, including financial
services, industrial manufacturing, retail/consumer products,
pharmaceuticals, healthcare, energy, technology, and communications.
Founded in 1994 by the progenitors of the Six Sigma revolution at
Motorola, the company developed the Six Sigma methodology, teaching
companies like GE, AlliedSignal, DuPont and AXA how to achieve a higher
level of quality, with substantially lower costs. Since then, SSA &
Company has helped hundreds of companies, both large and small, improve
how they operate, delivering billions of dollars of bottom-line benefits
through higher margins, revenue growth, and more efficient use of capital.
Today, the company continues to improve upon and evolve beyond its Lean
Six Sigma legacy, developing the approach into one of the most widely
used and regarded management systems -- a way to transform businesses
using analysis, rigor, and individual empowerment.

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