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Luxury group Burberry plans to step up expansion, with a focus on emerging markets, e-commerce and menswear, after strong sales of coats and leather goods helped it beat profit forecasts. The 154-year-old British group, known for its camel, red and black check pattern, said on Wednesday it would almost double capital spending to $186 million in its 2010-11 financial year, despite an uncertain economic outlook.

Kohl’s is scouting out locations in Canada in a preliminary look at bringing its mid-priced department stores to the country, industry sources say. U.S. retailers, grappling with economically fragile consumers at home, are increasingly turning to Canada for more fertile ground. Some of them, including Kohl’s, had counted on adding new stores in states such as California, Florida and Arizona but those markets were ravaged in the recession. Now clothier J. Crew, discounter Target Corp. and lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret are among U.S. merchants preparing to take the leap across the border.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is pleased to announce that although the Senate has passed a far-reaching bill that would affect “virtually every aspect of the financial industry” according to The New York Times, the bill does not include the expansion of the Federal Trade Commission’s rulemaking power.

Victoria's Secret anticipates its inventory levels will be down in the low- to mid-single digits this quarter, and plans to throttle back on its discounting-based promotional activity, as it won’t need to clear merchandise out. As a result, the direct aspect of the company’s semiannual sale will be shortened by five days. Its retail element will not be affected during the semiannual sale, but its Memorial Day sale will be shorter and smaller. This doesn’t mean the company is pulling back on promotions, period. In fact, it's publishing a new catalog exclusively focusing on the Victoria’s Secret Pink line, which will be published to take advantage of back-to-school shopping.

More than 20,000 mom-and-pops and small retailers have started hawking real goods on Facebook in the past five months, thanks to an e-commerce platform called Payvment. And with a $1.5 million investment the big brands are coming soon, said the startup's CEO, Christian Taylor. Payvment is a Facebook e-commerce app that lets any user — businesses and individuals alike — download a storefront and set up shop for free. Since it launched in November, small and midsize retailers have taken notice and put 125,000 products up for sale and 500,000 Facebook users (out of nearly 500 million total) have shopped with the app, which transacts "tens of thousands" of dollars per day.

In an early example of how a major fashion retailer is working with the iPad, Macy's is using the Apple tablet to turn its summer catalogue into a shoppable slideshow. Macy's 60-page print catalogue was converted into a two-page spread into which a 20-page slide show is embedded, with links to shop at Macys.com. The ad is running across the digital editions of 20 titles including Elle Decor and Marie Claire.

Casual Male Retail Group's chief executive said he hopes the company's new Destination XL stores will increase its market share by attracting the "smaller big-guy." "We do not have a big market share in the smaller sizes and that's a huge win for us if we can get it because it's a high percentage of the big and tall market," Chief Executive David Levin said. The retailer, which operates Casual Male XL retail and outlet stores and higher-end Rochester Clothing stores as well as a catalog and online business, plans to open four Destination XL stores during the fiscal second and third quarters. The stores represent a new direction for the company. Levin said he expects the increased product mix at Destination XL stores to attract a new customer and result in existing customers spending more.

Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, a bill that aims to curb sales tactics used by third-party online affiliates. Rockefeller introduced the bill May 19, shortly after the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation released a staff report outlining what it described as deceptive tactics used by companies. The report said the companies used the tactics to enlist consumers in services without their consent and make it intentionally difficult for them to receive money back upon request.

Nike today kicked off its FIFA World Cup campaign with a 10-minute film on Facebook featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney and other top soccer stars. Nike is vying with Adidas for supremacy in the soccer category, both view the World Cup as a major battle.

Some traditional retailers, seeking to compete with the efficiency and shipping speed of online merchants like Amazon.com, are finding new ways to tap their stores to fill online orders. Nordstrom and Jones Apparel Group are increasingly using their large store networks, in addition to big centralized distribution hubs, to ship online orders quickly to buyers nearby. New inventory management software, they say, helps them increase efficiency in part by using online orders to keep excess inventory from building up in stores.