Retail

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. announced Monday that it will introduce the Gap brand to Paraguay and Hungary through new agreements with existing franchise partners: Neutral for Paraguay and Gottex Brands for Hungary. The first Gap store will open later this year in Paraguay, joining Neutral’s 2012 Gap launch in Uruguay. And, in Hungary, Gottex Brands will open two Gap stores in Budapest. A specific timeline wasn’t released.

NEW YORK — Costco Wholesale Corp. is looking to open approximately 150 locations over the next five years, CFO Richard Galanti said on the company’s quarterly conference call with investors.

“And if we get a little better than that, great,” he added. “But that’s certainly a good starting point given where we’ve come over the last few years.”

Of the total, about 55 of the new units would be in the United States, with the rest located in Canada or foreign markets.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Genesco, a specialty footwear and apparel retailer operating numerous brick-and-mortar and online retail brands including Journeys and Lids.com, reported declines in earnings and net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

The company’s earnings declined 11% to $18.5 million from $20.8.

Net sales decreased 1.5% to $591 million from $600 million. Same-store sales fell 4%. Earnings remained slightly ahead of the company’s expectations.

New York -- Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. is on a roll. The white-hot luxury fashion and accessories company plans to open up to 50 stores in North America in its current fiscal year, plus additional units in Europe and the Far East. Michael Kors currently has 44 stores in Europe, with another 40 planned for its new fiscal year. 

New York -- Jamen Shively, a former Microsoft corporate strategy manager, announced plans to invest $100 million over the next three years in a national chain of marijuana stores. The stores would sell both medical-use and adult-use (recreational) cannabis. Shively is now CEO of San Diego-based Diego Pellicer, which describes itself as the first legal premium marijuana retailer in the United States.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway has appointed Barry Libenson as senior VP and CIO, effective July 1, 2013. Libenson replaces former Safeway CIO David Ching, who retired earlier this year. He will oversee IT business functions and report to executive VP Larree Renda.

Libenson previously served as senior VP and CIO at Land O’Lakes Inc. since 2010. Other positions he has held include VP of business at Ingersoll-Rand and executive VP at Surety.com.

SEATTLE — Paladino and Company (Paladino), a sustainability and green building consulting firm, has been selected as a winner of Verizon’s 2013 Supplier Recognition Award in the green and sustainability category. The award was given in recognition of Paladino’s overall green strategic focus and longtime partnership in Verizon’s retail store volume program, which resulted in 71 Verizon Wireless stores becoming LEED certified in 2012 and more than 130 total LEED certifications through the end of 2012.

BLOOMINGDALE, Ill. -- Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO) continues to grow its network of tire and automotive service centers across the United States, with a projected total of 45 new retail locations this year. The company currently owns and operates a total of 2,222 stores.