International Business

Toronto -- Shoppers at Lowe’s stores in Canada will soon be able to turn their purchases into miles toward air travel.

Lowe's Canada and LoyaltyOne Co., owner and operator of the Air Miles Reward Program, announced an agreement to launch the reward program with an anticipated full roll-out to Lowe's stores in Canada beginning on Dec. 1.
Canadian Lowe’s customers will be able to earn Air Miles reward miles at all Canadian Lowe's retail locations and for purchases online at Lowes.ca.

New York -- Uniqlo will open its second-largest U.S. store to date, in Chicago.

The 60,000-sq.-ft. location, which also marks the Japanese apparel giant’s entry into the Midwest, will open on Oct. 23, on Michigan Avenue near Water Tower Place, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The store will take up three floors in the former Filene's Basement space.

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Brisbane, Calif. – Bebe Stores Inc. continues to expand its global presence.

Bebe announced it has signed a five-year strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai-based brand agency Longgoal LLC to open between 60 and 150 Bebe stores, shop-in-shops and third-party retailers in Greater China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The first store is expected to open in the summer of 2016.

Irving, Texas – Better timing of distribution expenses, the elimination of operating costs of 40 shuttered stores and an improved merchandising strategy helped drive sales growth at Michaels in the second quarter.

The retailer posted net income of $35.7 million in the second quarter, compared to a net loss of $48.6 million in the same period a year earlier.

New York — Guess Inc. cited the negative impact of foreign currency fluctuations on earnings and sales in a difficult second quarter of fiscal 2016. Net earnings totaled $18.3 million, a 17% decrease compared to $22 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2015.

Total net revenue decreased 10%, from $608.6 million to $546.3 million. Same-store sales, including e-commerce, dropped 2.8% in the United States and Canada. In one bright spot, top-line e-commerce sales grew 20%.

In a first, West Elm, a Williams-Sonoma subsidiary, will make its products available outside of the brand’s own stores and website.

New Albany, Ohio – Efforts to change its merchandising and branding paid dividends at Abercrombie & Fitch Co., which reported smaller net loss and revenue decline than expected in the second quarter of fiscal 2015.

Abercrombie reported a net loss of $810,000, compared to net income of $12.9 million the same quarter a year earlier.

Revenue fell 9% to $817.8 million, from $890.6 million.

Livonia, Mich. -- Pet Supplies Plus is looking to capitalize on the $58 billion pet industry.

The company, the nation’s largest pet retail franchise, announced that, so far this year, it has 19 new locations in the pipeline. Newly signed agreements will bring the neighborhood pet stores to new and underserved markets including Nashville, Atlanta, Houston, Jacksonville and Denver.