International Business

Whole Foods celebrated Earth Day by serving as the kickoff site for environmental activist Christopher Swain’s historic swim in a toxic canal.

Framingham, Mass. – Bernard Cammarata, 75, founder and chairman of The TJX Companies Inc., will retire June 11, 2015 after nearly 40 years with the company. Carol Meyrowitz, 61, who has served as CEO of TJX since January 2007, been a board director since 2006 and joined the company in 1983, will succeed him as chairman.

Major retailers, trade groups and politicians sounded a euphoric and bipartisan tone last week following the introduction of trade legislation with potentially huge implications for the retail industry and the U.S. economy.

Dallas - Corner Bakery Cafe plans to open 13 new stores in greater Cleveland. The retailer has entered into its first area development agreement in the state of Ohio.

Cupertino, Calif. – Apple Inc. reportedly may launch its Apple Pay mobile payment service in Canada as soon as fall 2015. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is in negotiations with the six largest Canadian banks to roll out Apple Pay north of the border in November 2015.

Framingham, Mass. – Staples Inc. will acquire Accolade Promotion Group (APG), a distributor of promotional products in Canada. The acquisition will build on Staples' position as a distributor of promotional products in North America and will expand the breadth of offering for its customers.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Gap Inc. are both asking Congress to approve legislation that would reauthorize Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), saying such authority is critical to advancing free trade agreements.

Office Depot, along with Walmart, Target and CVS Health, have been named as top companies for women, according to the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).