International Business

AMSTERDAM — The Tommy Hilfiger Group has announced the appointment of John Ermatinger to CEO of the company's Asia business, effective Aug. 1. In this newly created position Ermatinger will report to Fred Gehring, CEO of the Tommy Hilfiger Group. Ermatinger will be based in the Tommy Hilfiger Hong Kong offices.

As CEO of the Asia business, Ermatinger will oversee all business activities in Asia, including the subsidiary Tommy Hilfiger Japan, the joint venture Tommy Hilfiger China, and the various licensed businesses throughout the territory.  

Bentonville, Ark. -- A Wednesday report by Bloomberg said that Wal-Mart Stores has named Morten Knudsen as CFO for Asia, as the retailer recasts its leadership roles in the region amidst top-heavy turnover.

Knudsen, who was previously VP for corporate finance in Asia for Danone, takes the financial chief spot for Wal-Mart Asia effective Sept. 1.

Since May, Wal-Mart has lost Japanese chief Toru Noda and three of its top executives in China, including the CFO and COO Roland Lawrence and Rob Cissell, respectively.
 

Bentonville, Ark. -- The Walton Family Foundation revealed Wednesday that it will donate $50 million to Teach For America, a commitment that stands to nearly double the size of the organization’s teaching ranks.

The charity that was created by the founder of Wal-Mart Stores will mete out half of the funds over a three-year period, and will increase the number of teachers to 15,000 by 2015. The remaining half of the donation will support the training of existing Teach for America instructors in seven communities.

Amsterdam -- The Tommy Hilfiger Group said Wednesday it has named John Ermatinger as CEO of the company's Asia business, effective Aug. 1.

Ermatinger was previously president of Gap Asia Pacific for two years and president of Gap Japan for three years. Under his leadership, Gap successfully launched the brand in China.

Brussels, Belgium -- Belgian supermarket retailer Delhaize Group said Wednesday that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Serbian retailer Delta Maxi.

Combined with its existing operations in Greece and Romania, Delhaize is now, with this transaction, considered a leading retail force in Southeastern Europe.

SEATTLE - The nation’s leading online retailer late Tuesday reported a 51% increase in sales and better-than-expected profits as liquidation of former rival Borders began.

If it wasn’t already apparent, the juxtaposition of these events in the same week is a harsh reminder that pure-play online retailers have the ability to render conventional brick-and-mortar chains, or large segments of their business, obsolete despite efforts by the latter to pursue multichannel strategies that leverage physical infrastructures.

New York City -- The Jones Group reported Wednesday that second-quarter earnings dropped almost 80% to $5.2 million, compared with $25.7 million in the year-ago period. The retailer and manufacturer, whose brands include Nine West and Anne Klein, cited expenses related to the acquisition of U.K. luxury footwear retailer Kurt Geiger for the poor earnings performance but results still exceeded Wall Street estimates.

Revenue for the quarter increased 3% to $887.4 million, just edging analysts’ expected $887.2 million.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot reported Tuesday that it loss widened to $29 million in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $25 million in the year-ago period.

Sales were essentially flat in the quarter, at $2.7 billion. By division, total sales dipped 2% in the North American retail division to $1.1 billion, and same-store sales decreased 1%. During the second quarter of 2011, the division closed 14 stores, opened four stores and relocated four stores, bringing the total count for North America retail to 1,131 stores.