REAL ESTATE

New York — Retail developer Edens has selected four finalists for its annual Retail Challenge, a nation-wide student competition for the most compelling new retail concept. The announcement of the winner kicks off this year’s smART: The Art of Retail conference.

Both the Edens Retail Challenge and smART aspire to incubate new ideas, share knowledge and identify the next generation of industry thought leaders.

Chicago -- Fresh Thyme Farmers Markets, a new specialty grocer format featuring value-priced healthy and organic offerings, announced Wednesday that it plans to open over 60 stores and create approximately 5,000 new jobs throughout the Midwest over the next five years. The company's first store will open in Mt. Prospect, Ill., this spring, followed by eight more grand openings, spread out between Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, throughout the remainder of this year. The retailer will enter Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin and Minnesota in 2015.

New York — Xcel Brands has announced the opening of the Isaac Mizrahi New York store in Woodstock, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. The 2,000-sq.-ft. shop will open on March 29.

Xcel Brands acquires, designs, licenses and markets consumer brands through an omnichannel sales strategy that includes interactive media, digital and brick-and-mortar retail. In 2011, the company acquired the Isaac Mizrahi New York designer apparel brand and an interest in Liz Claiborne

Chicago — Heinen’s Fine Foods has leased a 61,965 sq. ft. anchor location at the Bannockburn Green community center in Bannockburn, Ill., according to CBRE, which assisted in the lease negotiations.

The 151,206-sq.-ft. center serves Deerfield, Lake Forest, Highland Park, Lincolnshire and Bannockburn. The center’s retail lineup includes Walgreen’s, Erehwon Mountain Outfitters, Sleepy’s, Panera Bread and GNC.

Clinton Township, Mich. — The Mall at Partridge Creek, in the Detroit, metropolitan region, has named Melissa Morang marketing and sponsorship director. Morang will develop public programs, events and community relations for the center.

Morang returns to metro Detroit after spending the past year in the Grand Rapids area working in Meijer’s corporate office on marketing strategies for the retailers soft lines division.

Tejon Ranch, Calif. — Pottery Barn plans to open a new outlet store at The Outlets at Tejon. At 12,397-sq. ft., it will be the retailer’s ninth outlet store in the U.S. and its only current outlet store in California.

Currently under construction and slated to open in August 2014, The Outlets at Tejon is located on Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, Calif.

Cupertino, Calif. – Apple opened its first South American store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Feb. 15. Brazil is a leading global market for smartphones and media reports indicate more than 1,700 customers attended the opening of the store.

La Jolla, Calif. — Ramsey Real Estate Group has announced the commencement of a $600,000 renovation to Decatur Inn Plaza in Las Vegas. The renovation will include new storefronts, design elements, exterior finishes, building systems, landscaping and parking lot work. Vacant suites will receive vanilla shell treatments. Structural elements will be repaired and replaced. The renovations will also include rebuilding the property’s monument sign. Existing businesses will remain open during the renovation.