International Business

LOS ANGELES — Virtual Piggy initiated a consumer acquisition campaign to start building its subscriber base. Throughout the past four months, Virtual Piggy has added more than 400,000 new accounts most of which are based in the U.S. and some which were recently added in Canada.  

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin' Donuts announced the signing of a multi-unit store development agreement with existing franchise group Travel Mart for seven new restaurants in La Crosse and Eau Claire, Wis.

The first restaurant is planned to open in 2014 and the remainder by 2020.

By Karen Lowe, [email protected]

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys “R” Us plans to open more than 100 stores, including new locations, the relocation and conversion of 14 stores to its side-by-side format and 22 new licensed stores. The openings represent the net addition of more than 900,000 sq. ft. of retail space to the company’s store portfolio.

New York -- Swedish retailer Ikea has bought a wind farm in Ireland to power its furniture stores in Dublin and Belfast, according to a report by the Belfast Telegraph.

The Irish facility’s four turbines are expected to generate 25,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity and bring the total number of Ikea-owned windmills to more than 100 in the U.K., Germany, France, Poland, Denmark and Sweden.

Mississauga, Ontario -- Target Corp. is partnering with Metro Inc. subsidiary McMahon Distributeur pharmaceutique Inc. regarding the operation of in-store pharmacies at Target locations across Quebec. The partnership under McMahon's Brunet banner will provide pharmacies in the majority of Quebec store locations.

New York -- Canadian home-improvement retailer Rona reported a loss of $136.5 million for the second quarter, compared with a profit of $36.9 million a year earlier, hurt by restructuring costs and tightened market conditions.

According to a report by Reuters, Rona revenue fell 4.6% to $1.21 billion, and same-store sales dipped 1%. Analysts expected revenue of $1.35 billion.

Target stores in the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec will feature pharmacies under the Brunet banner based on an agreement reached with the McMahon Distributeur pharmaceutique division of Canadian food and drug retailer Metro, Inc.

The agreement comes as Target is preparing to open the first of 25 stores this fall in Quebec. Target entered Canada earlier this year and plans to open a total of 124 stores in its first year of operation.