U.S. Retail Industry Global Store Openings Planned for 2010 - Complete List

It’s not surprising that U.S. retail organizations have plans for global expansion in 2010. While the U.S. economy seems to be recovery, it is neither stable nor expanding rapidly, so this seems like a perfectly logical time for global expansion efforts. The global expansion plans for the U.S. based retail chains are not aggressive, for the most part, they are certainly hopeful and enthusiastic.

Of course, opening retail stores in a foreign country is not as easy as finding the right piece of real estate. In theory it is understood that we are living in a global economy. In practicality, there are still plenty of roadblocks in the way of global retail expansion. The practical considerations include logistics challenges in the supply chain and merchandise distribution. Partnership agreements with foreign companies are often formed to make the logistics of doing business in another country easier and more cost effective.

There are also less tangible challenges in marketing and customer relations. How a retail company is perceived and received in the U.S. does always translate well to consumers in foreign markets. For example, Wal-Mart has found great success within the borders of Brazil, but failed to make a profit in Chile. JC Penney, Carrefour, and Home Depot have also tried to enter the Chilean retail market but have failed due to stiff local competition and the inability to steal their extremely loyal customers. American Apparel has also recently met with consumer resistance since opening its first store in Australia in 2008 because its soft porn advertising strategies don’t play well with Aussie sensibilities.

One of the biggest challenges to global retail expansion in 2010 is government regulations and politics. While the U.S. generally recognizes the separation between business and government, in other countries there is not such a clear separation, or any separation at all. For example, in March, 2010, Turkish citizens were encouraged to boycott all McDonald’s Restaurants located in the country, in response to the decision of the U.S. House of Representatives to label mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as “genocide.” The future of the McDonald’s franchises in Turkey is threatened just because they getting caught in a political crossfire that is completely out of the control of the business principals.

But just because global expansion is challenging doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Plenty of retailers became willing to give global expansion a try in 2010. The risk of failure was not greater than the promise of finding new fertile ground in which to plant their retail operations.

What follows is a complete and ongoing list of the retail store openings that are planned by U.S. retail chains around the globe in 2010. Information for this global store opening list is gathered from credible mass media sources, and will be updated throughout 2010 as new store opening information is made public. The list is arranged alphabetically, according to the name of the retail company. This list of U.S. global retail expansion was last updated on 3/30/10.

List of Retail Companies Expanding Globally in 2010... next page >>

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