International Business

Beijing – Chinese e-commerce retailer Alibaba is reportedly planning to open a U.S. e-commerce website through its subsidiaries Vendio and Auctiva. According to Reuters, the site will operate at 11main.com.

New York – Aeropostale Inc. is reportedly considering trying to raise private equity capital. According to Reuters, four anonymous sources said Aeropostale is working with the investment bank Barclays plc to consider options including private equity capital as well as a sale of the company.

Virginia Beach, Va. — Divaris Real Estate has named Read F. Goode, Jr. to the post of managing broker of its Richmond, Va., office. Goode will focus on commercial sales and leasing services, land and shopping center acquisition and development.

Goode has more than two decades of brokerage and commercial development experience throughout central Virginia. He joins Divaris from S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. where he specialized in commercial land development and sales.

Oak Park, Ill. - McDonald's Corporation reported a 1.2% increase in global same-store sales during January 2014. That includes a decrease of 3.3% in U.S. same-store sales amid what McDonald’s called broad-based challenges including severe winter weather.  

Plano, Texas – Rent-A-Center has opened its newest locations in Panorama City, Calif., and Corinth, Miss. Rent-A-Center operates 162 stores in California and 37 stores in Mississippi.

The retailer also operates more than 3,000 stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. It employs more than 21,000 workers.

Leiden, Netherlands – Ikea Group reported progress in its “People and Planet Positive” sustainability strategy during fiscal year 2013. Highlights include:

• Sold 22.4 million LED products, including 12.3 million LED bulbs.

• Ikea Group has committed to own 137 wind turbines and installed 550,000 solar panels, taking the company closer to producing more renewable energy than the total energy it uses by 2020.

Indianapolis  — Kite Realty Group Trust has announced a definitive agreement with Inland Diversified Real Estate Trust. Under the agreement, Inland Diversified will merge with and into a wholly owned subsidiary of Kite Realty through a stock-for-stock merger. The transaction value is approximately $2.1 billion; the equity value is approximately $1.2 billion; and the enterprise value is approximately $3.9 billion — this based on the closing trading price of Kite realty’s common shares on February 7, 2014.

Former Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., president and CEO Mike Duke is among an impressive roster of top business executives slated to participate in a Wall Street Journal executive conference called ECO:nomics — Creating Environmental Capital.

The event, scheduled for April 2-4 at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, Calif., is billed as a day of no holds barred interviews in an interactive format that offers unparalleled networking.