Corporate Governance

New York -- Saks Inc. said Thursday that it will close its Highland Park, Ill., store, located in Renaissance Place, and its Austin, Texas, store, located in the Arboretum Market.

Both stores are slated to close on Dec. 31.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- A report released Thursday by workforce management solution-provider Kronos Inc. found that retail experienced gains in job applications and hiring during the month of August.

Pittsburgh -- American Eagle Outfitters said Thursday it has struck a deal with Suyen Corp. that will see the AEO banner open throughout the Philippines.
 
American Eagle signed a multiyear retail license agreement with Suyen, which operates more than 700 stores under various banners in the Philippines, along with 126 franchised stores in the country. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The first stores in the country, which will consist of standalone and in-store shops, are slated to open spring 2013.
 

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. has saved more than 2.34 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, which equals 1.47 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, in 2011, according to the chain’s sixth annual Sustainability Report.

St. Louis -- idX Corp., a global retail solutions provider, has announced it has opened a Mexico City office. The office will provide regional project management for idX clients as they continue to expand into Mexico and Central America.
 
Jimena Sotres has joined the firm as account executive, based in the Mexico City office.
 

Dallas -- PeopleAnswers and Real Mex Restaurants said Thursday the pair has executed a software licensing agreement that will bring the PeopleAnswers HR solution to Real Mex for pre-screening, selecting and hiring managers.

New York -- Gap Inc.’s Piperlime banner has opened its first full-scale retail location -- at 121 Wooster St. in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City.

"We are thrilled to be celebrating the opening of our first Piperlime store today in SoHo," said Jennifer Gosselin, senior VP and general manager of Piperlime. "

The new 4,000-sq.-ft. store is styled as a boutique and features trend vignettes, as well as in-store kiosks that provide shoppers access to piperlime.com products.

Houston -- The Men's Wearhouse Inc. reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended July 28 rose to $59.4 million, from $57.1 million in the year-ago period.

Sales edged up 1% to $662.3 million, narrowly missing Wall Street’s expected $662.9 million in revenue. Same-store sales grew 4.4% at namesake stores, but fell 3.3% at K&G stores.

The company has raised its guidance for full-year 2012.
 

San Francisco -- The Gymboree Corp. reported Wednesday a loss of $14.1 million in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $6.9 million for the same period last year.
 
Sales rose 3.8% to $268.8 million, from $259.0 million last year, and same-store sales dipped 1%.

During fiscal 2012, the company reiterated its plans to open 115 new stores, including 90 locations for its value-priced Crazy 8 concept.
 

Orlando, Fla. -- IBM announced Thursday at its Smarter Commerce Global Summit that RadioShack Corp. is working with IBM's cloud-based solutions to improve price image and pricing operations over the entire pricing lifecycle.

The solutions being used by RadioShack are part of IBM's cloud-based merchandising analytics software and services, which help companies define the optimal price points and product mix based on customer buying trends.