Global Opportunities

Benefit from IHA’s International Business Council, which offers opportunities, education and insight to help members succeed in the global marketplace!

April Currency Outlook

In their April 2019 Currency Outlook report, Tempus, an exchange rate and global payments company, provides a detailed report including the following topics and sections: In Brief The Federal Reserve did not increase interest rates, however, the USD is up half of a percent The global economy is slower than the U.S. economy, hence the better performance of the USD…

Global Retail Intelligence – April

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: April 23 – Walmart China Has Competitive Advantage with JD.com Alliance in Highly Competitive Market With 433 retail outlets in China, including 412 Walmart supercenters, Walmart plans to add 23 Sam’s Clubs by 2020. In 2018, Walmart and JD.com jointly invested $500 million in online-to-offline grocery…

Global Retail Intelligence – March

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: March 19 – India’s Reliance Retail to Open New Stores Reliance Retail plans to expand its low-cost fashion store network Reliance Trends to 2,500 locations within the next five years. From Retail News Asia March 18 – Walmart Japan Announces Seiyu Is Not For Sale Newly appointed CEO of Walmart’s Japanese…

March Currency Outlook

In their March 2019 Currency Outlook report, Tempus, an exchange rate and global payments company, provides a detailed report including the following topics and sections: In Brief The USD recovered about half of its January losses in February, increasing .7% The Brazilian Real and South African Rand sank dramatically The Australian and New Zealand Dollars both…

Global Year-End Results

In a summary of 2018 year-end results and 2019 projections, four of IHA’s global partners give members an update of what happened in 2018 in their markets of responsibility as well as some indicators of what 2019 holds: Canada Based on conversations with retailers across the country, the 2018 holiday season in Canada was ‘okay’ or flat. Either on par or slightly below 2017,…

Global Retail Intelligence – February

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: February 19 – Co-op UK Expands Through Franchise Program Co-op UK will offer independent retailers the opportunity to become a part of the brand as it aims to expand beyond the plan to launch around 100 new stores in 2019. From European Supermarket Magazine February 16 – MediaMarkt to Take Over Tesco’s…

2019 Currency Outlook

In their 2019 Currency Outlook report, Tempus, an exchange rate and global payments company, provides a detailed report including the following topics and sections: In Brief The Fed kept with the plan of raising interest rates four times, thus raising the USD by 3.4% Cryptocurrencies fell dramatically as did regular equity markets by year-end, with the Dow Jones…

IBC: Closing Out 2018 and Looking Forward to 2019

Another year has come to a close and IHA is looking forward to 2019! We thank our IBC members for your support and participation throughout the year. Healthy retail sales numbers reported during the holiday season have capped off a successful year in the home and housewares industry. In 2018, the International Housewares Association, through the International Business…

Global Retail Intelligence – January

To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world: January 15 – Ahold Delhaize to Open Additional Outlets in Belgium In addition to opening 200 new Fresh Atelier and Shop&Go stores, announced in late October, the group plans to add 100 new supermarkets (SM, AD or Proxy) and 30 to 50 Albert Heijn supermarkets in Flanders, Belgium for a total of 350 new…