Amazon Stepping Up Growth Across EU With New Sites, Hiring -FT

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is stepping up expansion into European Union countries with an enlarged network of distribution centers and plans to enter new markets, the Financial Times reported online Monday. Seattle-based Amazon has been pushing in recent months to grow outside of North America, which accounted for 45% of sales of $7.5 billion during the most recent quarter for the world's biggest online retailer. In November, the company added a new Italian website to existing European sites in the U.K., France and Germany. In October, it paid nearly $100 million to acquire BuyVIP, a fashion sales site