International Strategy

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.

Three retailers have been named "geniuses," and it may not be who you expected (well, at least one of the companies). L2, a business benchmarking service, awarded Nordstrom, Macy's and Sears "genius status," the highest honor of a five-tiered ranking system in its recent Digital IQ Index: Department Stores. Macy's and Nordstrom have been ranked highly in the past, however, I have to admit, I was surprised to see ailing retailer Sears join them at the top of the list. Over the last few months, we've heard reports of Sears closing multiple storefronts as well as management issues. Just this past week it was reported that the company probably won't last past the 2016 fiscal year. So how did Sears earn the title of "genius"?

Rakuten agreed to buy U.S. rebates website Ebates in Japan's largest e-commerce deal on record as the operator of the country's biggest online mall seeks overseas growth through acquisitions. Rakuten will pay about $1 billion for all of Ebates, it said in a regulatory filing. San Francisco-based Ebates offers cash rebates to customers who buy products from the website's retail partners. The deal comes after Rakuten has announced 18 acquisitions since the start of last year, and the cybermall operator said in June it's open to more large-scale buys following its bond debut. 

The Harris Tweed Authority (HTA) has settled a dispute with Crate and Barrel over its labeling of a design of chairs. Euromarket Designs Inc. offered for sale a Harris Tweed Chair and Harris Herringbone Chair on its Crate and Barrel website. The products however weren't made from Harris Tweed, a fabric hand-woven on the Western Isles and protected by U.K. law. The HTA said it has secured a "monetary settlement" and assurances the items wouldn't be marketed as Harris Tweed.

Gap will enter India next year in partnership with textile company Arvind Lifestyle Brand, opening 40 outlets across the country as part of its global expansion strategy. The brand plans to open about 40 franchise-operated Gap stores in India, the company said in a statement. The first two Gap outlets are expected to open in Mumbai and Delhi by next year. 

Quick: Which are the best places in the developing world to set up shop? Did you guess Chile? Uruguay? Kazakhstan? All three figure among the top 10 locations for retailers, according to the 2014 Global Retail Development Index put out by A.T. Kearney. The ranking takes into account a country's wealth, logistical and regulatory environment, and overall riskiness to "persons, property and principles." The idea is to select those countries that have just enough of all of the above. Too little and it's tough to do business. Too much and it's tough to stand out.