International Business

Uniqlo has made its first move in an ambitious plan to become a major presence in shopping malls throughout the nation. The company, Japan’s largest retailer and a division of Fast Retailing Co., has jump-started its U.S. expansion with the opening of a 43,000-sq.-ft. store in Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus, N.J.

Chicago -- Englewood Construction has announced that its Retail Group has began an extensive, 31,621-sq.-ft. interior build out for Ross Dress for Less at the Ford City Mall, a 47-year-old mall in Chicago’s West Lawn neighborhood.

The work will consist of a reconfiguration of the mall’s floor plans, structure and roof. Englewood will be combining three current spaces into one large floor plate for Ross Dress for Less. Chicago-based Chadha & Associates will serve as the architect on the project.
 

New York  -- Jones Group Inc. reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by a rise in sales of shoes and jeans to U.S. department stores, which helped make up for a big  drop in business at its own stores.
  
Third-quarter revenue slipped 0.7% to $1.035 billion as sales at the company's U.S. stores were down 6.7%.
   

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores said on Wednesday that various staff groups involved in compliance and legal issues will soon all report to its general counsel, Reuters reported. The move comes as the retailer works on coordinating efforts after an alleged foreign bribery scandal.

In a memo sent by CEO Mike Duke, the retailer said that starting on Dec. 1, its compliance, ethics, investigations and legal units will become one organization under executive VP, general counsel and corporate secretary Jeff Gearhart.

New York -- Signet Jewelers Ltd. announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ultra Stores, Inc. from Crystal Financial LLC. and its other stockholders for approximately $57 million in cash. Ultra operates stores primarily in outlet centers, as well as licensed jewelry departments.
   
Signet will not assume any debt in connection with the acquisition.
 

New York -- Coach Inc. reported Tuesday that profit for the quarter ended Sept. 29 rose 3% to $221.4 million, compared with $215 million for the same period last year and beating Wall Street expectations.

Sales surged 11% to $1.16 billion, in line with forecasts, and same-store sales in North America rose 11%, bolstering the luxury retailer’s results for the quarter. In China, same-store sales also rose by double-digits.

New York -- Kate Spade New York said Tuesday it is unveiling a new apparel and accessories brand, Kate Spade Saturday, which will officially launch in Japan in February 2013 through e-commerce at Saturday.jp and a flagship store in Tokyo.

The company said the brand, which is based on the spirit of Saturday seven days a week, is expected to launch exclusively online at www.saturday.com in the U.S. in spring 2013. A selection of product from the spring 2013 launch collection will be sold on fab.com prior to the U.S. launch.