International Strategy

U.S. retailers beware — the British are coming! But it's not just the Brits. The Italians, French, Spanish and more are also invading the U.S., capitalizing on prime real estate as several homegrown brands shutter stores. Perhaps most emblematic of the shift is Sears’ recent announcement that it will lease out space in seven locations to European retailer Primark, which is opening its first U.S. store in Boston next year. Sears will still retain a significant presence in six of these spots.

Best Buy said on Thursday it will sell its struggling China business, Five Star, to domestic real estate firm Zhejiang Jiayuan Group in order to focus on its North American operations. The world's largest consumer electronics chain didn't disclose financial terms of the sale of the 184-store network, announced in a statement. Best Buy has struggled to fend off Chinese rivals in a crowded market, as other U.S. firms have complained that operating in the country has become more of a challenge.

Brick-and-mortar retailers have become the first U.S. business group to be disappointed by Republicans since their midterm election gains, as party leaders indicated that a bill to end tax-free internet shopping was doomed. Retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy have long railed against a perceived loophole that they say gives e-commerce rivals an unfair advantage by enabling many online shoppers to avoid sales tax. But on Monday, a spokesman for John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said a bill to tax online shopping wouldn't move forward in the final weeks of the current Congress.

Macy's and Bloomingdale's will expand their horizons by opening in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2018. Until now, Macy's has remained a domestic retailer while other brands, including Bloomingdale's, have expanded globally. The stores will open in the Al Maryah Central, a new regional shopping center on Al Maryah Island. It's a mixed-use 3.1 million-square-foot development with retail, cafes, restaurants, a cinema, health club, luxury hotel and residential towers.

Hennes & Mauritz AB will blacklist a spinning mill in southern India after a report claimed five manufacturers there use child labor and subjected workers, mostly women and girls, to "appalling" working conditions. H&M will ban suppliers from using products made by Tamil Nadu-based Super Spinning Mills Ltd., the Stockholm-based company said on Tuesday. A Bangladeshi supplier has used yarn produced at the mill, though H&M doesn't have a direct business agreement, Spokeswoman Lena Enocson Almroth said in an email. Super was "unwilling to cooperate with H&M in a transparent way."

San Francisco-based Gap Inc. signed deals to open Old Navy stores in six countries in the Middle East next year. Franchisees Fawaz A. Alhokair & Co. and Azadea will open the new stores beginning in the U.A.E., Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Gap has had Gap and Banana Republic stores in the region since 2007. "Entering the Middle East is an important milestone in our strategy to share Old Navy with a broader, global customer base," said Robert Frank, executive vice president of Old Navy International, in a company statement. 

Wal-Mart's more than 11,000 retail locations across 27 countries provides the company's U.S. division a testing lab stretching across five continents, according to Wal-Mart International CEO David Cheesewright. Joking to the crowd gathered during an Oct. 15 investor conference, Cheesewright noted that he was the third speaker of the day who has English as a foreign language. To that point, the world has become smaller and more connected via technology. Retail is at the center of that change. Changes seen in the global markets often make their way back to the Bentonville mothership, he said.

Cultural variances are present in brick-and-mortar stores, from what products are offered to how they're merchandised, but these nuances are often lost online. Too often, language is an afterthought. In today's global economy, retailers that are able to replicate the in-store experience and provide a localized approach to online shopping will have a significant advantage.

Who would've thunk it. A company that sells barf bibs, Buddha-shaped pears, a portable fat-freezing machine and inflatable walking-on-water shoes that was started by a poor Chinese schoolteacher who first used the internet while visiting the U.S. in 1995 and is nicknamed "Crazy Jack" by reporters had an initial public offering last week that now ranks as the world's biggest at $25 billion. Of course, I'm talking about Alibaba, China's biggest online commerce company.  

Dallas-based luxury retailer Neiman Marcus, which currently only operates department and outlet stores in the U.S., recently announced a deal to buy the Munich, Germany-based Mytheresa.com, an online luxury fashion platform from founders Christoph and Susanne Botschen and Acton Capital Partners. According to Fortune, the acquisition is Neiman’s latest move to cater to the wealthy around the world without opening new physical stores.