International Business

New Delhi, India -- A Friday report by the Wall Street Journal disclosed that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. expects to open its first retail stores in India within the next 12 to 18 months.

In an interview with WSJ, Scott Price, Asia president and CEO of Wal-Mart, said that the retailer has not pinpointed where the first stores will be located or ultimately how many there will be. But the latest decision handed down by the Indian government allowing megastore retailers to enter the country via joint ventures paved the way for the impending openings.

New York -- Two U.S. retailers took home top honors at the 2012 World Retail Awards in London, with Costco Wholesale Club named “Retailer of the Year,” and Macy’s recognized as “Multichannel Retailer of the Year.” The awards were announced as part of the 2012 World Retail Congress.

Foothills Ranch, Calif. -- The Wet Seal Inc. said Thursday it has dropped its temporary shareholder rights plan, citing feedback from stakeholders, and has proposed to expand its board to include two nominees of activist investor Clinton Group.

In July, Clinton Group, which owns approximately 7% of Wet Seal, called for a sale of the retailer, expressing dissatisfaction with its performance, and made a play for four seats on the board. In response, the retailer adopted a temporary shareholder rights plan with a 10% trigger.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu has named Kathy Persian as SVP and chief information officer. Persian joined the company in February 2010 in the role of group VP retail and merchandising systems, and later moved to group VP corporate planning, analysis and business process. Persian was named to the CIO post following the decision by Wayne Shurts to accept a position with another company. Shurts joined Supervalu in April 2010.

Los Angeles -- The Westfield Group announced that David T. Weinert will join the U.S. unit of the group as senior executive VP leasing.

Weinert joins Westfield after 25 years with the Taubman Co., most recently serving as senior VP of leasing.

Publix is making its North Carolina debut with the planned opening of a new store in the greater Charlotte area.

The company has signed a lease for a store at Providence Road West and Johnston Road in Ballantyne. The store will be part of a new division based in Charlotte.

While Ballantyne marks Publix’s long awaited entry into North Carolina, the company is looking ahead to continued growth within the state and in its current operating areas of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.

Oak Brook, Ill. -- Inland Diversified Real Estate Trust announced it has raised over $1.1 billion of investor capital, which will be used to continue the company’s acquisitions of a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate properties.

“We believe that we have built an outstanding portfolio of stable, performing commercial real estate assets with very high occupancy, generating sustainable distributions for our investors,” said Barry Lazarus, president and COO of Inland Diversified.

Atlanta -- RedPrairie Corp., a global supply chain and retail technology provider, announced that Adidas has gone live with RedPrairie workforce management (WFM) at its Singapore retail locations. Adidas will leverage RedPrairie WFM to increase employee productivity and optimize scheduling to help Adidas deliver optimal customer service to Singapore consumers.