International Business

Hilco Trading wants to build the next great retail consulting business and consistent with that goal it has hired Antony Karabus to serve as president of Hilco’s retail consulting arm and elevated current CEO Greg Rubin to the role of chairman.

PHILADELPHIA — Teen and tween retailer Five Below will open 60 stores this year, including its first-ever locations in Texas.

The retailer said it will open four to five stores in Austin, Texas, and 10 to 12 stores in Dallas by late summer, with the potential for more than 100 stars in the Lone Star Sate stores over time.

CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble posted a boost in sales and earnings for the second quarter and raised its outlook for the fiscal year, the company announced on Friday.

Strong international growth and price increases helped Kimberly-Clark produce a 3% fourth quarter sales increase and cap off a record year.

Footlocker COO Richard Johnson has joined the board of Maidenform Brands.

Johnson serves as EVP and COO at Footlocker, one of the nation’s leading retailers of athletic footwear, and has been with the company for 16 years.

"We are delighted to welcome Dick to our board of directors," said Maurice S. Reznik, Footlocker’s CEO. "Dick has demonstrated strong leadership at Foot Locker and his broad operating and international experience will serve Maidenform well."

Mississauga, Ontario -- Target officially unveiled its partners, owned brands and limited-time only collections that will be featured in its Canadian stores, which will  start opening in March/April 2013.

In addition to Target's ongoing partnerships, the Canadian stores will include an exclusive, limited-time only collaboration with Roots. The new Roots Outfitters collection for Target will offer fashion for women, men, boys, girls and toddlers, and will be available from March to June 2013.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. said its profit rose in its first quarter as customers spent more at its stores in the United States and Asia.

Starbucks earned $432.2 million in the quarter ended December 30, 2012, compared with $382.1 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 11% to $3.8 billion, slightly below expectations.

The company reported that global same-store sales rose 6%. In Europe, the metric fell 1%. Americas’ comparable store sales grew 7%. Same-store sales in the China/Asia Pacific region grew 11%.

New Delhi -- An Indian official said Thursday that India’s Cabinet will investigate allegations that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. broke rules as it lobbied to make its retail market debut in the country.

According to Manish Tewari, information and broadcasting minister for India, the cabinet has authorized a retired judge to look into Wal-Mart’s lobbying disclosures and investigate whether any of the retailer’s activities broke Indian law.
     

London -- Three cities in Germany are ranked the top five European markets for commercial real estate investment, according to a report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Munich took the top spot in the report, “Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2013,” followed by Berlin, London, Istanbul and Hamburg. The ranking of 27 cities across Europe was based on respondents’ expectations for market performance in 2013.

New Delhi -- According to a Thursday report by Reuters, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is examining the conditions around India’s decision to allow supermarkets to open stores in the country.