International Business

Mississauga, Canada – Target Corp.’s exit from Canada is reportedly not turning out as smoothly as the retailer had hoped. According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, Target is returning 55 leases it could not find a bidder for to their landlords.

Target is also returning 19 leases for office and warehouse space in Canada. The company operated a total of 133 stores in Canada; meaning about 40% of the store leases did not attract bidders.

San Jose, Calif. – eBay Inc. shareholders have reportedly voted themselves a measure of power to nominate directors on the company’s board. According to the Wall Street Journal, 59% of shares voting at the meeting approved allowing investors who hold at least 3% of eBay’s shares for three years to nominate up to 25% of the company’s directors.

San Francisco - Visa Inc. is expanding its technology research capabilities globally and appointing Min Wang to senior VP of Visa Research Labs. Wang joins Visa from Google Research, where she was a senior staff research scientist focused on data mining.

She also held senior staff research roles at HP Labs China and at the Unified Data Analytics Department at the IBM Watson Research Center.

New York - L'Oreal USA is announcing the first measured results of its global sustainability program, Sharing Beauty With All. By 2020, the company pledges that 100% of products will have an environmental or social benefit and 100% of strategic suppliers will be evaluated on their social and environmental performance.

Athleisure apparel continues to be a driver of growth for Columbia Sportswear Co., which posted record sales in its first quarter.

The CEO of Carter's Inc. and the former CFO of V.F. Corp. have joined the board of directors at the Fresh Market.

Michael D. Casey, CEO and a director of Carter’s Inc., and Robert K. Shearer, formerly CFO of V.F. Corp., have been named as independent directors effective May 1. With these additions, the Fresh Market’s Board has nine directors, eight of whom are independent directors.

Canada represents a dynamic market for U.S. retailers looking for store expansion opportunities.

Whether local or global, growth has been robust for 2014’s top third-party managers

The 26th annual survey of Fastest-Growing Managers surveys new domestic and international third-party management and leasing contracts obtained during the 2014 calendar year and ranks the top performers.

Bauer Hockey: Ice hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer Hockey is throwing its puck in the retail arena. The company will open its first-ever store this summer, in Burlington, Massachusetts, followed by a second location in the fall, in the Minneapolis area.

New York - The U.S. retail and consumer sector experienced a strong first quarter in 2015 for merger & acquisition (M&A) activity, which was driven by seven megadeals (deals with a value of more than $1 billion). According to PwC's U.S. retail and consumer deals insights report, 39 deals were announced for the quarter (with values more than $50 million), up 11% from fourth quarter 2014, but down 9% from first quarter 2014.