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Italian Firm Offers $1.1 billion for U.S. Shoe: Italian eye wear maker Luxottica Group mounted a drive to acquire U.S. Shoe Corp., parent of the LensCrafters chain, for $1.1 billion, but the price did not immediately tempt U.S. Shoe. Luxottica, which sells eyeglasses worldwide, said it was making its $24-a-share offer directly to shareholders after it had been rebuffed by U.S. Shoe executives about a friendly merger. The company said it would offer shareholders its opinion about whether to accept or reject the offer by March 16. The Cincinnati-based company, whose holdings include Casual Corner women’s clothing store chain and the Amalfi and Easy Spirit shoes brands, previously announced it was pursuing potential deals to sell or split up the company. U.S. Shoe closed up $5.375 at $24.125 a share.