| Global retail industry news |  |
- REITs plan to develop U.S.-style outlet malls in Canada
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust and Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust are both planning to open U.S.-style premium outlet malls near Halton Hills, which is located west of Toronto. The malls will feature some retailers that are not yet in Canada, highlighting the increasing attractiveness of the Great White North to many American companies. The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (14 Mar.)        - JD Group makes deal with Steinhoff
JD Group has agreed to acquire the South African retail division of Steinhoff for roughly 3 billion rand in a multi-faceted deal. Steinhoff will pay 134 million rand to purchase JD Group's stake in Abra Spolka Akcyjna, the Polish furniture retail unit. The deal will make Steinhoff a significant shareholder in JD Group. "The deal will enable JD Group to strengthen its balance sheet and retain significant capacity to invest in growth," according to the companies. Reuters (14 Mar.) - Bauhaus overtakes Praktiker in Germany's DIY market
Praktiker, which saw its sales decline 6.6% last year to €4.07 billion, lost its place as the second-largest home-improvement retailer in Germany. Bauhaus generated more revenue in 2010, according to Daehne Verlag, an industry publisher. Bauhaus recorded sales of €4.44 billion, a 7% increase, according to Daehne Verlag. Bloomberg (14 Mar.)  | Are you keeping up with the changing world of employee health care? Get The Basics of Employee Health Care for Small Business: A Guide to Creating a Company Benefit Plan, and find out what you need to know today. There's no obligation. Click to download a FREE whitepaper. |
 | Retail in Asia |  | | | - Japanese disaster prompts concern among luxury retailers
Japanese consumers account for roughly 11% of sales in the global luxury goods market. The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan late last week are raising questions about how luxury goods companies, including Burberry, Hermes and LVMH, will perform. "Luxury sales depend on the people's confidence," according to Sarasin, a Swiss asset manager. The Guardian (London) (14 Mar.) - Tesco plans joint venture to develop shopping centres in China
Tesco and a financial group are planning to invest about £30 million each in a joint venture aimed at developing shopping malls in China. Tesco, which owns 93 hypermarkets and a dozen Express stores in China, is aiming to bolster its presence in the Asian nation. The company plans to develop shopping malls in Fuzhou, Xiamen and Shenyang, according to a statement from Tesco. ChinaRetailNews.com (15 Mar.) - Taobao kicks off campaign to fight online counterfeiting
China's largest online marketplace launched an aggressive campaign this week to fight online piracy and counterfeiting, after being labeled as a "notorious market" by the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Taobao deleted more than 5.7 million products over issues related to copyright infringement last year; under the new system, when cases of infringement are confirmed, the company will immediately ban the seller from the site, a spokesman said Monday. China Daily (Beijing)/Xinhua (15 Mar.)  | Create a winning social-media strategy
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 | Spotlight on Grocery | | | | - Japanese stock up on necessities following earthquake
Hirotake Henmi, a spokesman for Seven & I Holdings, said Japanese consumers are flocking to the company's Ito-Yokado supermarkets to purchase rice, water, batteries and other necessities. "The distribution system works, so that every day the stores provide a certain amount, but as soon as a shop opens, the products disappear," he said. Concerns about the risk of nuclear radiation leaks are prompting the stockpiling. Bloomberg (15 Mar.) | NRF News | | | | - HauteLook shares keys to customized multichannel consumer experience
With many flash sale groups, it all starts with an e-mail that leads to a site visit. But HauteLook has upped the ante by providing an easy, consistent social engagement that is likely to turn those site visits into a mobile app download, Facebook "like" or YouTube video view. HauteLook Senior Vice President of Marketing Greg Bettinelli shares how the company is increasing brand loyalty and sales through engagement on each channel level. Read more.
| Editor's Note | | | | - How are you helping relief efforts in Japan?
If you or your company, organization or group want to help the Japanese people recover from last week's earthquake and tsunami but aren't sure how to do so, InterAction provides options. An alliance of U.S.-based international nongovernmental aid organizations, InterAction has compiled a list of groups that are accepting private, corporate and group donations, along with some guidelines for the most appropriate ways to help. -- Rick Stamberger, CEO of SmartBrief
What is your organization doing to help? Share your story with us. | SmartQuote | | | |  | The reason for so much bad science is not that talent is rare, not at all; what is rare is character."
--Sigmund Freud,
Austrian founder of psychoanalysis  |
| | This SmartBrief was created for cpgbrokers.data@blogger.com
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Shelly Alcorn, CAE, is a thought leader, speaker and association management consultant. Reach her on Twitter 
If you or your company, organization or group want to help the Japanese people recover from last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami but aren't sure how to do so, InterAction provides options. An alliance of U.S.-based international nongovernmental aid organizations, 
