International Business

Washington, D.C. - Jim Sinegal, Costco co-founder and board member, will receive the Gold Medal Award in 2014 during the National Retail Federation (NRF) Annual Conference and Expo in New York City. In addition, NRF has named South Korea’s Lotte Shopping as the International Retailer of the Year.

Nike has been named Retail Innovator of the Year, and Half Price Books’ Executive VP  and chief strategy officer Kathy Doyle Thomas has been selected as 2014’s Silver Plaque recipient.

Groupon has named Tamer Tamar as SVP of international operations and Sri Subramaniam as VP of engineering for smart deals.

“We’re thrilled to have Tamer and Sri join Groupon and bring their incredible talent to our expanding bench of senior executives,” said CEO Eric Lefkofsky. “Tamer and Sri will accelerate Groupon’s plans to grow our international operations and deliver more and more relevant deals to our customers throughout the world.”

Charlotte, N.C. -- Bojangles' Restaurants Inc. has appointed Clifton Rutledge as CEO effective Jan. 24. Rutledge joins Bojangles' from Texas-based hamburger chain Whataburger, succeeding current CEO Randy Kibler, who announced his plans to retire from this role in September 2013 but will remain active as chairman of the company's board of directors. Additionally, Bojangles' has promoted its senior VP of company operations Kenny Avery to COO.

New York -- MPI — Mall Properties, Inc., a private owner, developer and operator of commercial real estate — has changed its name to Olshan Properties.

The National Retail Federation will honor Jim Sinegal, Costco co-founder and board member, with its Gold Medal Award during Retail’s BIG Show.

Additionally, NRF has named South Korea’s Lotte Shopping as the International Retailer of the Year. Shin Heon, president and CEO of the company, will accept the award. Nike has been named Retail Innovator of the Year, and Half Price Books’ EVP and chief strategy officer Kathy Doyle Thomas has been selected as 2014’s Silver Plaque recipient.

Cupertino, Calif. – Apple Inc. has reportedly opened a digital store on the Chinese online marketplace Tmall. According to the Wall Street Journal, the design of the Tmall digital store is similar to the design of Apple’s own Chinese e-commerce site.

Secaucus, N.J. – The Children’s Place Retail Stores has expanded its existing franchise agreement with Fawaz A. AlHokair & Co. SJSC covering retail stores in Saudi Arabia, to include opening a total of approximately 25 stores in Egypt and the Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S. Region) of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan, beginning in mid-2014.

Japanese apparel retailer Fast Retailing remains deliberate in its approach to growth of its Uniqlo brand in the U.S. with plans for five more stores by mid-year.

There are currently 1,300 Uniqlo locations worldwide in 13 countries, but only 17 stores in the U.S. The five new stores the company is adding this spring and summer will be located in King of Prussia, Pa., Stamford, Conn., and Daly City, Concord, and Milpitas, Calif. The company’s other existing stores are clustered in the Northeast with and northern California.