International Business

By Ted Vaughan, [email protected]

The year 2012 was the best year for retail IPOs since 2002 — S&P Capital IQ reported seven offerings for the year — and when we released our 2013 IPO Outlook Study earlier this year, 30% of capital markets executives expected initial public offerings (IPOs) in the retail and consumer products space to continue to grow in 2013. Now that we’re well into the second half of the year, how have those expectations fared?

San Francisco - Customer satisfaction is on the rise globally after more than a year in decline, with the average global customer satisfaction rating reaching 81% in the second quarter of this year. According to the new quarterly Zendesk Benchmark report, this about a 4% increase from an average rating of 78% in the previous quarter and the highest average rating since the first quarter of last year.

Fort Worth, Texas — Buxton has announced the roll out of a full suite of retail market analyses in the Canadian marketplace. The company noted that the Canadian retail market has become extremely competitive and will likely see massive retail growth over the next few years. As a new concentration for Buxton, the effort will focus on both U.S. retailers expanding into Canada, and Canadian organizations looking to maximize their footprint in the market.

New York -- Jones Lang LaSalle has added another financing expert to its growing Capital Markets team in Dallas. Industry veteran Jeff Zickefoose joins has joined the firm as senior VP. He will work with Managing Director Randy Fleisher and the rest of the team to provide strategic services to clients throughout the region.

“Jeff brings nearly 20 years of financial experience and a long track record of originating debt on behalf of leading commercial mortgage debt providers,” said Fleisher.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $7.87 billion for the month of July, the four weeks ended August 4, an increase of 7% from $7.36 billion during the similar period last year.

For the 48 weeks ended August 4, the company reported net sales of $94.91 billion, an increase of 8% from $87.7 billion during the similar period last year.

Brussels, Belgium – Delhaize Group reported increases in net profit, same-store sales and revenues during the second quarter of fiscal 2013.  Net profit totaled $139.2 million, up 20% from the same quarter in the prior year. Same-store sales grew 1.1% in the U.S. and 0.8% in Belgium, while revenues came to roughly $7.1 billion, a year-over-year increase of 7.1%.

Troyes, France – Lacoste is establishing an online presence in Greater China using a new multichannel commerce solution from Accenture that features Demandware as the core digital commerce platform. Under terms of the agreement, Accenture has designed and built Lacoste’s online store and will continue to manage the operations of its online business in China.

NEW YORK — Ralph Lauren Corporation weathered an uneven global operating environment with resilience, resulting in better-than-expected first quarter retail sales for fiscal 2014, which increased 3% to $879 million from $857 million in the first quarter last year.