eCommerce

Montreal -- Aéropostale said Thursday that it is adding to its presence in Canada with the opening of its first store in Quebec, on June 15 at Place du Royaume in Ville de Saguenay.

The chain said that six more stores will open in 2012, including Place Laurier in Québec City, Fairview Pointe Claire in Point-Claire, Promenades St. Bruno in St. Bruno De Montarville, Galleria D'Anjou in Anjou, Mail Champlain in Brossard and Les Galeries de la Capitale in Québec City.

CINCINNATI — Fuel sales at Kroger helped drive the company's total sales up 5.8% to $29.1 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 from $27.5 billion for the same period last year. Total sales, excluding fuel, increased 4.3% over the same period last year.

Identical supermarket sales, without fuel, increased 4.2% in the first quarter over the same period last year, marking the 34 consecutive quarters of positive identical supermarket sales for Kroger.

NEW YORK — Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has appointed Michael Robinson to the newly created position of VP e-commerce. Robinson brings retail, direct-to-consumer and digital experience working with popular brands such as Anthropologie, Smith & Hawken Ltd., and Banana Republic Inc., and will be responsible for building out the company's e-commerce presence, including the site the company is jointly developing with JCPenney, which is slated to launch in 2013.  He is reporting to Lisa Gersh, president and COO of MSLO.

New York -- Francesca's Holdings Corp.’s first-quarter performance surpassed expectations, helped by strong demand for its product. The chain’s earnings more than doubled to $8.7 million.

Net sales increased 48.6% to $61.3 million. Same-store sales rose 15.5%.

Suffern, N.Y. -- Ascena Retail Group Inc. announced it has successfully completed its tender offer for Charming Shoppes Inc.'s outstanding shares.

Ascena announced in May it that was buying Charming Shoppes, whose banners include Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug,  and Catherines Plus Sizes, for about $890 million.

Charming Shoppes will become an Ascena subsidiary and will stop trading on the Nasdaq and Chicago Stock Exchange once the transaction is complete. Ascena’s retail subsidiaries include Dressbarn, Maurices and Justice.

Old Bridge, N.J. -- Driven by new big-box store closures, the vacancy rate in retail properties along northern New Jersey's six major shopping corridors edged up to 8.2% in April from 8.1% a year ago and 8.0% in 2010, according to R.J. Brunelli & Co.

New York -- J.Crew Group is expanding into Asia through a partnership with Hong Kong- based specialty store operator Lane Crawford.

Beginning in October, a curated selection of the J.Crew autumn/winter 2012 women's ready-to-wear and shoes, men's apparel and accessory collections will be available at select Lane Crawford stores in Hong Kong and China. It is the first time J.Crew goods will be featured in a retail environment outside of North America.

New York -- A report released Monday by A.T. Kearney showed that Brazil once again first among developing countries for global retail expansion.

A.T. Kearney’s Global Consumer Institute’s 2012 Global Retail Development Index ranks the top 30 developing countries for global retail expansion.