| Global retail industry news |  |
| Global Industry Watch |  |  |
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- Sears Canada cashes out of Alberta mall
Sears Canada will sell its 40% stake in the Medicine Hat Mall in Alberta for $43 million to partner Sleeping Bay Building Corp., the company said Wednesday. The retailer, which has operated a store there since 1978 and will remain at the mall as a tenant, also announced plans to pay a special $1 per share dividend. Financial Post (Canada)
(12 Dec.)     
| Retail in Europe | | |
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- Zara aims to keep up the pace of growth
Madrid-based Zara parent Inditex has doubled the number of its stores to 6,000 since 2007, and the fast-fashion retailer with a presence in 86 countries plans to keep on growing at a pace of 8% to 10% annually for the next few years, said chairman Pablo Isla. The retailer saw sales rise 17% between Feb. 1 and Oct. 31, boosted largely by fast growth in China and online. The Wall Street Journal
(12 Dec.)
| Retail in Asia | | |
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- High-tech Taiwan factories turn out next-gen textiles
Taiwan's manufacturing economy has shifted from old-fashioned textiles to high tech in recent decades, driving the creation of factories that combine the two to turn out high-tech fabrics that are proving popular with US and European apparel brands. "These fabrics have special production, coating and lamination processes, and we want to keep those patents here," said Robert Jou, a director at the Taiwan Textile Research Institute. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)
(12 Dec.)
| E-commerce Spotlight | | |
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- How Tmall is taking the lead in China
Alibaba's 5-year-old online marketplace Tmall is proving popular with the fast-growing legion of online shopping fans in China. The site has already grown larger than eBay and is expected to hit $100 billion in sales by 2016, eclipsing Amazon's projected $94 billion in sales, according to research firm Euromonitor International. CNBC
(11 Dec.)
| Spotlight on Consumer Electronics | | |
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- Darty to downsize in unprofitable markets
Darty, the French parent of consumer electronics chains BCC, Vanden Borre and Datart, will scale back stores or pull out altogether from unprofitable European markets including Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, chairman Alan Parker said Wednesday. The retailer, which currently operates nearly 500 stores in nine countries, plans to focus resources on increasing its online business and beefing up in-store merchandise mixes, he said. Bloomberg
(12 Dec.)
| NRF News | | |
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- Forging the right path to international expansion
Building bridges into new and emerging markets requires the right expansion framework and a critical analysis of market dynamics. A white paper by L.E.K. Consulting posted in the Shop.org library explains the hot target markets, modern-day examples within the industry and entry strategies all companies should know to create both global brand consistency and tailor products for local appeal. Download the white paper.
| SmartQuote | | |
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 | No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking."
--Voltaire,
French writer, historian and philosopher
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