Bahrain

eBay is expanding its global shipping program (GSP) yet again, this time to nine additional countries, including some located in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. eBay is pushing sellers to use the GSP to make their items available to buyers in 44 countries — soon to be 53 — but without having to ship internationally. eBay will add the following nine countries to the GSP program beginning April 8: Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia and Turkey. 

In the final part of this two-part series on the "20-Plus Things to Watch in Retail” section of JWT's Retail Rebooted report, I discuss 12 of these 20-plus things, including the mobile-powered consumer, shopping hotels and variable pricing. In part one, I discussed 10 trends contained in the report, including 3-D printing, alternative brand currencies and click-and-collect shopping.

New York City -- Sur La Table has been acquired by Investcorp, a global asset management firm. The Seattle-based retailer, which specializes in kitchen goods, operates 86 stores nationwide. Investcorp acquired Sur La Table from the Behnke family and investment firm Freeman Spogli & Co., who will both remain as investors in the kitchen goods retailer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. No management changes are expected. "We believe that Sur La Table is well positioned in its existing markets and has multiple opportunities for growth including new store expansion and e-commerce." said Kevin Nickelberry, a managing director

Apparel maker Joe’s Jeans opened a retail store in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the first of at least seven stores it plans to open in the Middle East. The store at the Mirdif City Centre is part of an agreement with MultiTrend International MultiTrend International Follow this company to open stores in conjunction with exclusive rights to operate retail locations and market the Joe’s brand in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Golden Gate Capital Corp., a private equity firm, agreed to sell a majority stake in the J. Jill clothing business to Arcapita Bank BSC, a Bahrain-based investment bank, less than two years after buying the company.

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. said Wednesday that it has opened a 10th Destination Maternity store in the Middle East, this one located in Discovery Center, in Kuwait. Destination Maternity, which also operates under the Motherhood Maternity and A Pea in the Pod banners, has three other stores open and operating in Kuwait. The newest store was opened through its franchisee, Multi Trend, a member of the Al Homaizi Group. Multi Trend has also opened two Destination Maternity stores in the United Arab Emirates, as well as four Destination Maternity stores in Saudi Arabia. Under a multi-year franchise agreement,