International Business

New York -- Hedge fund manager Richard Perry has upped his already substantial share in J.C. Penney Co. Perry’s Perry Capitol LLC now ranks as Penney's second-largest investor after George Soros.
    
It was disclosed on Friday that Perry bought an additional three million shares of Penney in a secondary offering for $12.90 a share, and that it now owns 8.62% of the company, up from its previous 7.3% stake.
      

New York -- Uniqlo will open 10 U.S. mall stores in October and November, giving it a total of 17 U.S. locations. The new stores are strategically placed surrounding the brand’s current flagship stores on the East and West Coasts (see below for schedule).

To support its retail expansion, Uniqlo will debut a new, more interactive website this fall.  

Uniqlo will open four stores in California, three in New York, two in New Jersey and one in Connecticut. Here is the schedule:  

New Jersey

Benicia, Calif. — Cycle Gear Inc. has announced the chain’s first Wisconsin store in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee. With this new location, Cycle Gear now operates more than 100 stores in 29 states.

The Brookfield store is now open now and will have a grand opening celebration from Sept. 13 to Sept. 15 featuring sales and vendor appearances.

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. will open its first franchise-operated Old Navy stores in the Philippines in 2014. Earlier this year, the company announced that it would begin franchising Old Navy stores internationally.

Gap will partner with Stores Specialists, which operates Gap brand and Banana Republic stores in-market, to open two Old Navy locations in the beginning of 2014 with plans to open additional stores by the end of the same fiscal year.

Internet services company Rakuten has acquired the global video streaming platform known as Viki as it looks to advance its digital content offerings and extend Internet services to new markets.

Los Angeles -- Guess Inc. reported net income for the second quarter above expectations due to improving sales in North America.

Net income fell 7% to $39.8 million, down from $42.9 million a year ago.

Overall sales rose 0.6% to $639 million. In North America, which accounts for about 40% of the chain’s revenue, retail sales were up 1%.

Same-store sales fell 2%, compared to a 10% drop in the first quarter.

NEW YORK — Avon Products appointed Brian Salsberg as SVP of global strategy, effective Sept. 23. Salsberg will report to Sheri McCoy, Avon's CEO, and will join the company's executive committee.

Hamilton, Bermuda -- Signet Jewelers Ltd.’s net income fell to $67.4 million for the quarter ended Aug. 3, down from $70.7 million a year earlier, impacted by the Mother’s Day calendar shift.  

Total sales increased 3.1% to $880.2 million, fueled by strong sales at the company’s Kay Jewelers and Jared stores in the United States. Sales were soft at its British chains.

Same-store sales were up 3.6%. At Kay, same-store sales rose 5.8%.