Co-Marketing

Toronto -- Target Canada Co. and Starbucks Coffee Canada announced Wednesday an agreement that will put Starbucks licensed stores inside most of the 125 to 135 stores that Target plans to open in the region.

"Our goal is to bring the true Target brand shopping experience to our Canadian guests, so expanding our relationship with Starbucks as we enter the Canadian marketplace is a natural fit," said John Morioka, senior VP merchandising, Target Canada. There are currently 1,097 Starbucks locations within Target stores in the United States.

Chicago -- General Growth Properties and Italian restaurant chain Buca di Beppo announced Tuesday the scheduled opening of 10 Buca di Beppo restaurants set to open at various properties within the GGP mall portfolio during late summer 2012.

The multi-restaurant deal marks a significant expansion of the Buca di Beppo restaurant group. New mall locations include Governor’s Square Mall in Tallahassee, Fla., August (Ga.) Mall, Oakwood Center in New Orleans and Town East Mall in Dallas.

Even ground-breaking partnerships must come to an end, and that will be the case next month when after collaborating on roughly 2,000 items over a 13-year span, the final offering of Michael Graves branded products arrives in Target stores.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — In time for the upcoming Olympic Games in London, Spalding has snagged Misty May-Treanor, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the current no. 1-ranked American volleyball player in the world, for a long-term marketing, licensing and promotional agreement with the brand.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl’s Department Stores announced that it has partnered with fashion designer Dana Buchman for an exclusive line of Kohl's Cares cause merchandise. The product line includes apparel, accessories and gifts, which can be found in all 40 Wisconsin Kohl’s stores and online at Kohls.com, with 100% of the net profit donated to support the fight against breast cancer. The collection is available now through the end of April.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Corp. has entered into a joint venture with Tata Global Beverages Limited that will result in the opening of the first-ever Starbucks locations in India. The 50/50 joint venture, called TATA Starbucks Limited, will own and operate Starbucks cafés, which will be branded as Starbucks Coffee “A Tata Alliance.” (Tata Global Beverages is the world’s second largest tea company and Asia’s largest coffee plantation company.)

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe's announced that is partnering with Houzz, a leading social site for home remodeling and design, to offer consumers the chance to win a dream kitchen.

As part of its marketing relationship with Houzz, Lowe's has launched the “Dream Kitchen” sweepstakes, giving customers the chance to win a dream kitchen, valued at $50,000, designed and built by Houzz's top designers and contractors with materials from Lowe's.

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe's announced that is partnering with Houzz, a social site for home remodeling and design, to offer consumers the chance to win a dream kitchen.

As part of its marketing relationship with Houzz, Lowe's has launched the “Dream Kitchen” sweepstakes, giving customers the chance to win a dream kitchen, valued at $50,000, designed and built by Houzz's top designers and contractors with materials from Lowe's.