International Business

Seattle – Nordstrom has closed a previously announced offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of 5.00% Senior Notes due 2044. The proceeds from the sale of the notes will be used for general corporate purposes, including repayment or retirement of outstanding indebtedness due in 2014, financing of capital expenditures and working capital needs.

The notes were offered in a private placement, solely to qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933.

Indianapolis — Simon Property Group has announced a plan to spin off all of its strip center business along with its smaller enclosed malls into an independent publicly traded REIT called SpinCo.

Walmart has appointed Krish Iyer president and CEO of Walmart India, effective Jan. 20, 2014. He will report to Scott Price, president of Walmart Asia.

Los Angeles — Retail real estate showed the strongest growth in capital values and rents of all property types globally in the third quarter of 2013, according to CBRE Group, Inc.

Wolverine Worldwide has appointed Gina R. Boswell to the company's board of directors.

Boswell is EVP, personal care, for global food, personal care and household products company Unilever. She has held numerous senior leadership positions with other leading global companies, including Avon Products, Ford Motor Company and Estée Lauder Companies.

Retailers usually measure 
the success of project spending by ROI, or "return on investment." ROI measures how many dollars you get back for every dollar you invest. This is a prudent and necessary way of justifying investment in things like IT systems, facilities and processes.

But not everything of value can be measured by simple dollars and cents. How do you measure the return on hope given to hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged children, both in the United States and around the world?

The Coca-Cola Company’s board of directors has named Ed Steinike as a senior VP and Robert J. Jordan Jr. as a VP. Jordan will succeed William D. Hawkins III as general tax counsel, who announced his intention to retire in March 2014 after 15 years of service with the company.

Pleasanton, Calif. – Safeway has appointed Brian Baer to president of the company's Eastern Division. Baer joined Safeway in 2001 as VP finance for the company's Phoenix Division. In 2004, he became group VP finance planning and analysis at the Safeway's corporate headquarters.