International Business

The bankruptcy of South Korean shipping giant Hanjin Shipping is forcing retail chains to spend lots of extra cash to get their goods through ports to warehouses in time for the holiday shopping season, the Los Angeles Times reported.   

Watch out Hallmark. A popular British greeting card  and stationery brand has designs on the U.S. market.   Paperchase is planning to open two freestanding stores in the United States next year, both in Chicago, The Telegraph reported.         Currently, the brand supplies Target and Staples with private-label greeting cards.      

Black Friday weekend is just around the corner. But as retailers remained focused on one-day sales, exclusive sneak peeks and door busters, they are missing the boat on a much more lucrative opportunity — Singles’ Day.  

“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future," as Nils Bohr, the Nobel laureate physicist put it. But as the end of 2016 approaches, it’s useful to look forward and try to anticipate the cybersecurity trends that lie ahead, and to reflect on what’s happened over the past year, to see how accurate previous predictions were.    For 2016, our predicted cybersecurity threats included:  

The watch and fashion accessories brand Fossil Group is planning to reorganize its business.   The company, which operates 610 stores across the globe (including 284 U.S. locations) will close some stores, although it did not say how many, the Dallas News reported, as part of a multi-year business overhaul that also includes a focus on fewer products.    

Starbucks Corp. is feeling its oats.   The coffee giant topped estimates for its fourth quarter and gave a positive view for its current fiscal year.   Starbucks’ consolidated net revenue grew 16% to $5.8 billion in its fourth quarter, which was better than expected.   

The CFO of Gap Inc. is leaving the company after serving in the role for nearly a decade.   The retailer announced that executive VP and CFO Sabrina Simmons is leaving. She will remain through the end of the company’s 2016 fiscal year, "ensuring a seamless transition over the coming months."  

China’s sluggish economy didn’t stop Alibaba from increasing revenue by 55% for the September quarter.