International Business

San Francisco - Retailers in the U.S. including Dunkin’ Donuts, Fandango, Sundance Catalog and Williams-Sonoma will now offer Visa Checkout, the online checkout service from Visa Inc. In addition, Pizza Hut, Ticketek and Bonds will offer Visa Checkout in Australia; and Indigo, Roots, Running Room and Simons will offer the service in Canada.

By Brian Ehrig

The U.S. dollar has risen by more than 20% against the other major currencies over the last year, buoyed by a respectable if not torrid economic recovery and sinking oil prices, among other factors. That could be a breath of fresh air for U.S. shoppers with a taste for imported goods. For global mega-brands like PVH, Microsoft and Coach, however, the implications are closer to a gathering storm.

New York – Sean P. Murphy has been hired as a consultant to advise management regarding strategic and other business matters. As a result, Murphy has resigned from Ralph Lauren’s board of directors.

Murphy served on Ralph Lauren’s board since November 2005. He was the CEO of Christie’s International from September 2010 through December 2014. He previously served as the president and CEO of Rodale Inc. from 2002 to December 2009, and joined Rodale in 2000 as its president and COO.
 

Photo: Jonathan Parks

Retailers are poised to benefit from a new deal between Accenture and Javelin Group, a UK-based retail strategy consulting and digital transformation services provider.

The acquisition will expand the capabilities of Accenture Strategy to help the world’s leading retailers and consumer brands accelerate their digital transformation. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, and completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.

Alpharetta, Ga. - McAlister's Deli has signed three development agreements with new and existing franchisees to open restaurants in Southern Georgia and North, Central and Southwest Florida.

Existing franchisee DMAC 81 LLC, based in Summerville, South Carolina, plans to open several new restaurants between southern Georgia and northern Florida.

A lot of attention has been paid to a variety of technologies currently disrupting retail, like beacons and wearable devices. Here are three technologies still in the development phase that hold potential to radically disrupt retail, and even life as we know it, in the next 10 years:

Quantum Computing

Party City’s CEO says robust sales prompted an “impressive” increase in same store sales in the first quarter, the company’s first quarterly report after an April IPO.