This Special issue contains 13 papers focussing upon the trend of major retail operators developing international operations. Topics discussed include the following: developing a conceptual model of strategic considerations for international retail expansion; developing a taxonomy of international retail alliances; the changing process of internationalisation in the European Union; international activities of Japanese retailers; differences between international and domestic Japanese retailers; planning implications of new retail format introductions in Canada and Britain; historical comparisons between retailing in Canada and the US; internationalisation of retailing in the Czech and Slovak Republics; and developing a framework for the study of the internationalisation of retailing. -from Editor