International Business

New York City -- Italian eyewear maker and retailer Luxottica Group SpA said Thursday it will acquire two specialty sunglass retailers in a deal worth about $23 million in a move to gain entry to the Mexican market.

Luxottica’s deal to buy Stanza and High Tech includes more than 70 stores that will eventually be rebranded as Sunglass Hut locations.

Walmart and Target are being blamed for driving shares of Canadian retailers to their lowest level in six years, according to a Bloomberg report this week. Bloomberg said the ratio between the S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Retailing Index and its counterpart in the Standard & Poor’s 500 narrowed to 4% on Feb. 11, the smallest in six years. The retailing index has retreated 2.3% this year, while a separate index of companies that sell food and basic necessities has lost 1.1%, the biggest declines among 24 industries in the S&P/TSX. 

London -- A survey released Thursday said sales growth at Britain's Tesco PLC, the world's third biggest retailer, will outpace its major international rivals -- including Wal-Mart Stores -- in coming years as it expands in Asia, the Associated Press reported.

The report by London-based food and grocery analyst IGD says that Tesco will grow its business at a compound annual rate of 7.5% between 2010 and 2015, taking sales to euro106 billion ($143 billion).

Global supply chains in an Ayn Rand World is the theme of the 10th annual Supply Chain Management Research Center spring conference to be held Thursday, March 17 at the University of Arkansas Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development. The event will last from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. with industry leaders slated to share their views on a wide range of supply chain topics.

New York City -- Liz Claiborne narrowed its fourth-quarter loss as the company trimmed expenses. But it issued a lackluster outlook for its coming fiscal year.

The company said Thursday that it lost $30.1 million, compared with a loss of $41.7 million in the prior-year period.

Revenue dropped 7% to $703.7 million from $756.5 million, down mostly because of a transition in the licensing model under its J.C. Penney Co. and QVC deals.

Still, the results topped Wall Street's $684.6 million

New Albany, Ohio -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co.'s fiscal fourth-quarter net income nearly doubled on strong sales overseas and better U.S. results. The retailer reported net income of $92.6 million, up from $47.5 million a year ago.

Revenue for the period ended Jan. 29 rose 23% to $1.15 billion, from $936 million. Domestic revenue rose 13%, while international revenue jumped 61%.

Same-store sales rose 13%.

New York City -- Only 7% of executives believe their companies are extremely or very prepared to comply with new lease accounting standards proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), according to a recent Deloitte survey.

Beachwood, Ohio -- The Developers Diversified Realty Corp. board of directors announced the company and Scott A. Wolstein have agreed he will step down from the role of executive chairman of the board of directors.