International Business

Dublin, Calif. – DD’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores Inc. will open a new store in Las Vegas on Sept. 27. The store is located in the Winterwood Pavilion.

Including this new location, DD’s Discounts will operate 150 locations in 14 states and is on schedule to complete its expansion plan to open approximately 20 locations in 2014. Together, Ross Dress for Less and DD’s Discounts currently operate over 1,300 off-price apparel and home fashion stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

Procter & Gamble vice chairman Werner Geissler, who is also special adviser to the chairman and CEO, has announced plans to retire from the company Dec. 31, after more than 35 years of service.

Indianapolis - Simon and Noble Investment Group, a real estate private equity firm, which specializes in the lodging and hospitality real estate sector, have launched a joint venture that will bring the AC Hotels by Marriott brand to Phipps Plaza, a luxury shopping destination located in Atlanta's Buckhead district.

Three executives at Hormel Foods will be advancing to new roles as of Oct. 28.

Mark D. Vaupel, currently director of information technology services, will advance to VP of information technology services. Swen Neufeldt, currently director of business development in Asia, general manager of China and VP of Hormel Foods International, will advance to president of Asia Pacific, Hormel Foods International. And Jeffrey A. Grev, currently director of corporate development, will advance to director of legislative affairs.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. will acquire the remaining shares of its Japanese joint venture, Starbucks Coffee Japan, for $913 million to accelerate growth across multiple channels in the country, including the introduction of new concepts such as Teavana. The acquisition is the largest to date made by Starbucks. Japan is the company’s second-largest market in store sales after the United States.

“Full ownership in this market is the right approach for the future," said Troy Alstead, COO, Starbucks, in a conference call with analysts.

Aliso Viejo, Calif. – Johnny Rockets has signed a development agreement with The Daher Group, to open Bolivia's first Johnny Rockets restaurant in Santa Cruz's Ventura Mall, the largest shopping center and first modern mall in the country. Johnny Rockets will join Ventura Mall's Gastronomic Boulevard, a central location in the modern mall designed for restaurants, coffee shops and snacks.  

Hasbro has entered into a strategic merchandising relationship with Disney Consumer Products for the Disney Princess and Frozen properties. The agreement gives Hasbro global rights (excluding Japan) to develop dolls based on Disney Princess stories and characters including Cinderella, Beauty and The Beast, The Little Mermaid and Frozen beginning in 2016.

PayPal is further expanding its relationship with payment service provider BitPay, which specializes in e-commerce, B2B and enterprise solutions for the bitcoin digital currency. The first joint project is an integration with PayPal’s Payments Hub, which is PayPal’s alternative payment platform for digital goods.