International Business

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company is expanding its presence in Latin America, with plans to open locations in Colombia, Bolivia and Panama.

Starbucks said it is on track to open its first store in Colombia, in the city of Bogota, in mid-summer 2014 through a joint venture between two of its longest-term business partners in the Latin America region – Alsea and Grupo Nutresa. During the next five years, the joint venture plans to expand aggressively in Bogota and to other major cities in Colombia.

La Paz, Bolivia - Bolivian drugstore chain FarmaCorp S.A., has entered into a five-year agreement for Revionics Price Optimization with Revionics Inc. FarmaCorp was searching for a price optimization solution and a partner that would help analyze customer demand and shopping preferences.

Covington, La. — Stirling Properties has acquired John Toomey & Co., a commercial real estate company based in Mobile, Alabama. Stirling will add Toomey’s 1.8-million-sq.-ft. portfolio to its own, bringing the total to 15.5 million sq. ft.

John Toomey and his team will join Stirling Properties, with Toomey serving as broker/new business development coordinator for the Mobile area.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Holdings Corp. on Wednesday confirmed it is exploring strategic options for its 51% interest in Sears Canada Inc., including a sale. To assist in its efforts, the retailer said it will hire to an investment banking firm.

Sears Canada's board of directors and management intend to cooperate fully with Sears Holdings in this process. Net loss attributable to Sears Holdings’ shareholders was $358 million and $1.4 billion, respectively, for the fourth quarter and full year of 2013.

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. has named Anthony N. (“Tony”) Thompson, 47, as president and CEO, effective June 1. Thompson joins the company from Papa John’s International Inc., where he most recently served as president and COO.

The CEO search continues at Crocs, but the casual footwear maker does have a new president.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has appointed Karen Cate as CFO and Jeff Schroeder as VP of operations.

Cate was the VP, controller of Trader Joe's Company, where she was responsible for the integrity of financial processes and reporting for the retail grocery store, warehouses and distribution operations. She has also held financial management positions for Sun Microsystems, Nestlé USA and Avery Dennison Corporation.

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