Trading Partners

Secaucus, N.J. -- The Children’s Place announced that it has signed a 10-year franchise agreement with Apparel Group to open stores in the Arab Gulf States of United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. The first stores are scheduled to open in the UAE in September in Dubai and Sharjah.

While the European Union continued to meltdown and Moody’s was downgrading major U.S. financial institutions, 800 representatives from leading retailer and CPG companies were gathered in Instanbul for the Consumer Goods Forum annual Global Summit.

New York -- A Thursday report by Bloomberg said that Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren is slated to give his deposition next month over a contract dispute with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.

Citing documents filed Thursday in New York state court, Bloomberg said that Lundgren is scheduled for a half-day of questioning on July 3 in advance of a July 13 hearing on his company’s request for a preliminary injunction.

HERSHEY, Pa. — The Hershey Company  has named Leslie Turner SVP, general counsel and secretary, effective July 9.

In her new role, Turner will lead Hershey’s legal, government relations, corporate security and corporate secretary functions. She will report to John Bilbrey, president andCEO, The Hershey Company. She also will serve as a member of the company’s global leadership team.

IRVINE, Calif. — Vizio has agreed to let Curtis International Ltd., which sells digital televisions in the United States and Canada under the Curtis brand, become a licensee under Vizio's QAM patent portfolio. The parties have not disclosed financial terms of the agreement under which Curtis has agreed to make royalty payments to Vizio for sales of licensed products.

Improved procurement processes at Gymboree are being eyed as a means for the specialty retailer to reduce expenses.

Gymboree, operator of 1,155 stores, said it retained the procurement management firm LogicSource after the firm conducted a detailed analysis of Gymboree’s procurement spend and identified significant savings opportunities. LogicSource will give Gymboree access to its broad-reaching procurement industry expertise, provide a comprehensive vendor network, and drive efficiencies through smart centralization, according to LogicSource.

San Francisco -- The Gymboree Corp. and procurement management firm LogicSource announced Thursday an agreement under which LogicSource will provide procurement and management expertise to deliver cost savings to Gymboree.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Beachwood, Ohio -- Blackstone's flagship real estate fund and DDR Corp. announced Thursday hat a joint venture formed by the two entities has closed on the acquisition of a portfolio of 46 shopping centers previously owned by EPN Group.

The joint venture has assumed approximately $635 million of senior non-recourse debt and has originated an additional $320 million non-recourse loan facility, which has a five-year term.

Unilever president of customer development, Joe Cavaliere, is the newest addition to the board of the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

The trade group’s board held its semi-annual meeting earlier this week and elected Cavaliere and re-elected PetSmart president and CEO Bob Moran and IBM’s general manager for the retail industry Karen Lowe.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Co. details its expansion plans for Latin America, including the opening of its first shop in Costa Rica on June 20. The company also said it plans to open "several hundred stores” in Brazil the next five years. (Starbucks has full ownership of its business in Brazil.)

Starbucks and joint-venture partner Alsea expect to add more than 300 new stores in Argentina and Mexico by 2015.