International Business

Cincinnati -- Bad weather, decreased spending by international tourists  due to the strong U.S. dollar and delayed merchandise shipments from the West Coast port slowdown all contributed to Macy’s missing Wall Street projections for profit and revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income fell 13% to $193 million, from $224 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Net sales dropped about 1% to $6.23 million, from $6.28 million. Same-store sales declined 0.7%.

Staples is accelerating its pursuit of growth opportunities abroad even as the company awaits regulatory approval of a proposed merger with Office Depot.

Staples has announced a partnership with Bidvest Waltons, South Africa’s leading office products company, and Dacris, a major distributor of office supplies in Romania.

Austin, Texas – Video and text messaging app Tango is partnering with Wal-Mart and Alibaba to offer full e-commerce functionality inside the Tango app. Tango is rolling out functionality to U.S. users, which will provide them with the ability to browse and purchase items available from Wal-Mart and the AliExpress international shopping site, which is hosted by Alibaba.

Sephora is looking to increase online sales by expanding its omnichannel capabilities in China with a new flagship store on JD.com.

Sephora says its JD.com store will be the largest cosmetics store on JD.com's platform, featuring over 1,200 items from more than 70 leading international cosmetic brands, including Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy, Benefit and Kenzoki, among dozens of others.

San Francisco – Gap Inc. reported disappointing sales for April and the first quarter, hurt by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange and sliding sales at its namesake and Banana Republic divisions. Also, earlier timing of the Easter holiday, as compared to 2014, benefited the company’s March sales results and negatively impacted its April sales results.

Total same-store sales fell 12% in April, worse than predicted. Sales at Old Navy declined 6%, while sales at Banana Republic plunged 15%. Same-store sales for Gap fell 15%.

Cupertino, Calif. – Apple Inc. is reportedly holding discussions with Alibaba Holding Group Inc. and several Chinese banks to launch Apple Pay mobile payment in China. According to the Xinhua official Chinese news agency, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he is “bullish” on Apple Pay in China and thinks it could gain traction more quickly in China than it has in the U.S. since its September 2014 launch.

Brussels, Belgium – Belgian grocery retailer Delhaize Group and Dutch grocery retailer Ahold N.V. have confirmed they are engaged in preliminary discussions about a possible merger that could create one of the largest supermarket operators in the U.S. But the two companies said the talks may not result in any deal.

New York -- Boscov’s Department Store believes in keeping it in the family. Albert Boscov, 85, has resigned as CEO of the company, and been succeeded by his nephew, Jim Boscov. The new chief, who will continue to serve as vice chairman, is the third generation of the family to lead the privately held business which was founded more than 100 years ago.