Strategy

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook's influence on retail continues to grow as eBay announced that it has integrated the social network's Open Graph functionality into its storefront and fulfillment platforms.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gap Inc. is continuing its expansion into Latin America with the opening of its first stores in South America in Chile this month. The company also announced plans to open Gap and Banana Republic stores in Panama and Colombia in 2012.

Houston -- Stage Stores said Wednesday it will launch a new off-price concept, called Steele’s, to be rolled out in small-town America.

The first three stores are slated to open on Nov. 1, in Beeville, Texas; Bastrop, La.; and Minden, La.; the company said it plans to open an additional 25 to 35 new Steele’s stores in 2012.

Tokyo -- Fast Retailing Co., parent to the Uniqlo chain of stores, reported Wednesday that profit for the full year fell 12% to $709.2 million. The company blamed the performance decline on bad weather, but said it will accelerate store openings overseas, which will compensate for the decline.

Duluth, Ga. -- NCR Corp. announced the launch of CPMobile, a mobile retail management solution designed to enable specialty retailers to engage more directly with consumers throughout the sales process and provide a level of customer service that will drive revenue and differentiate them from their competition.

New York City -- Uniqlo, the expansion-minded Japanese apparel retailer, on Friday will open its largest store in the world, an 89,000-sq.-ft. flagship on Fifth Avenue. The three-level store reflects the chain’s ambitious designs on the United States and also the changing nature of Fifth Avenue, which is experiencing an influx of moderately-priced retailers.

Uniqlo is looking to grow its business to $50 billion by 2020. U.S. expansion figures into its strategy.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Two years of declining same-store sales at Walmart are poised to end next month when the retailer reports third quarter results that reflect positive momentum from a wide range of initiatives put in place during the past 12 months, judging from comments made by senior executives during an all day meeting with analysts on Wednesday.

Rogers, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores had positive news for analysts and investors gathered for the retailer’s annual meeting on Wednesday in Rogers, Ark. The chain said its same-store sales rose in July, August and September, reversing a two –year slump.  It also announced that it plans to cut its capital spending in the United States, even as it increased cap spending abroad,  as it continues to shift toward building smaller stores.