International Business

MINNEAPOLIS  —Target announced that its chief marketing officer, Michael Francis, will serve as the executive committee sponsor of Target’s entrance into the Canadian market.  In this role, Francis will oversee the extension of Target’s brand as part of the corporation’s first-ever expansion of its stores beyond the United States, the company reported. 

New York City -- Starbucks Coffee Co. said Thursday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Tata Coffee Ltd., an Indian coffee bean provider, which will allow Starbucks to source and roast coffee beans at Tata's Coorg, India facility.

In addition, the deal will allow the companies to "explore the development of Starbucks retail stores in associated retail outlets and hotels," Starbucks said in a statement.

Dow Jones this morning reported that South African retailer and Walmart takeover target Massmart Holdings has given assurances it will continue to honor all agreements with labor unions and local labor laws if the buyout goes through. That’s what Walmart and Massmart have been saying since the deal was announced last year but they have to keep saying it because union activists are everywhere in the world.

Los Angeles -- BH Properties announced that Ronald J. Platisha has been promoted to the newly created position of COO.

Platisha will lead the organizational operations while building and maintaining relationships with financial institutions.

Platisha, a 30-year veteran in the commercial real estate industry, has served as CFO at BH Properties for the past four years.

Retailers at NRF’s convention this week got a citing of Bill Fields, a former Walmart executive who spent 25 years with the company serving in various roles from 1971 to 1996. Today Fields is chairman of a group called China Horizon, a joint venture with the Chinese postal service charged with helping to develop retail and consumption in rural China, and it was the topic of China that Fields addressed during the super session: “Making the retail business dynamic,” sponsored by Microsoft.

Seattle -- Callison announced today that John Jastrem has been appointed as chairman and CEO of Callison. He replaces James P. Rothwell, who is stepping down as CEO and returning to his previous role as principal in the firm running its commercial design practice. Callison’s chairman Robert J. Tindall, is leaving the firm.

Jastrem has served on Callison’s Holdings board (Callison Architecture Holding, LLC and Subsidiaries) since 2006 and as its executive chairman since August 2010.

Walmart Canada has a few years to get ready for the arrival of Target following yesterday’s major announcement that its arch rival would be heading north of the border via an acquisition. That is the same strategy Walmart employed all the way back in 1994 when it bought 122 former Woolco stores. Walmart now operates 323 stores in Canada, and by the time Target gets around to opening its first units in 2013 that figure will probably be closer to 400.

MINNEAPOLIS - Just days after announcing 2011 U.S. expansion plans, Target announced an acquisition in Canada that will enable it to open between 100 and 150 stores during the next four years. The company announced that it has agreed to pay C$1.825 billion to purchase from Zellers Inc., a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company, the leasehold interests in up to 220 sites currently operated by Zellers Inc. This transaction will allow Target to open its first Target stores in Canada beginning in 2013.