International Business

The pace of store closings at Office Depot is accelerating and employee retention costs are rising as the retailer maintains that its merger with Staples will close by year end.

Hangzhou, China – Alibaba Holding Group Inc. is tapping a former longtime partner at Goldman Sachs to oversee the online giant’s international growth.

Michael Evans, who is also a member of the Alibaba board, has been named president of Alibaba Group, effective immediately.

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Meijer is on the move in Wisconsin.  

Continuing an estimated $750 million investment in Wisconsin, Meijer on Tuesday opened two more superstores in the state. The retailer announced plans to open two to three new Wisconsin locations per year through 2019.

Meijer, which now operates 222 stores, entered Wisconsin just six weeks ago, with two stores. The retailer traditionally focused its growth on five states: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.

Deerfield, Ill. - Walgreens Boots Alliance has named Kimberly R. Scardino as its new senior VP, global controller and chief accounting officer. Scardino joins Walgreens Boots Alliance from American Express Co., where she was senior VP, business advisory controller.

Greenwich, Conn. -- Starwood Retail Partners, the retail operating platform formed by Starwood Capital Group, announced that it has named Angela Aman CFO, effective Aug. 10. Aman brings more than a decade of experience as a financial executive to her newly created position, including having spent the last four years as CFO and treasurer of Retail Properties of America, Inc.

Aman will be responsible for strategic planning, implementing and management of all accounting and financial functions, as well as investor relations and partner reporting.

Houston - When consumer demand for the latest trends surges, fashion retailers must move quickly to engage with shoppers and ensure they have the right product mix on the shelves. The fast-growing women’s accessory retailer Charming Charlie  has met widespread consumer demand with an upgrade to Oracle Retail Merchandising solutions to support both its immediate needs and its international expansion plans.
 

Fast fashion retailer Uniqlo is expanding its collection of Disney apparel and taking its partnership with Disney to a whole new level with a planned flagship store at Disney World.

The fast growing Japanese retailer will open a store in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in the spring. It will be the retailer's first store in the southeastern U.S. Uniqlo already has 42 stores in the U.S. and plans to open more stores this year.

Read more by clicking here.

Canton, Mass. -- A Rockport veteran is returning to head up the company he left more than 30 years ago.

On Monday, investment firm Berkshire Partners and New Balance Holding completed their acquisition of The Rockport Company from the Adidas Group. As part of the transaction, New Balance affiliate Drydock Footwear will join with Rockport to form The Rockport Group. Bob Infantino was named CEO of the reorganized company.