REAL ESTATE

Frenchtown Township, Mich. -- Youngstown, Ohio-based Cafaro Co. said Monday that rue21 will open a new store at Mall of Monroe, located in Frenchtown Township, Mich.

The 5,700-sq.-ft. store is slated to open June 2013 in the mall’s south concourse, and will be the only rue21 location in Monroe County.

Cafaro also said that The Monroe Expo Center opened Feb. 4, converted from a former retail use to a 51,000-sq.-ft. event space.

New York -- Douglas Elliman's Retail Group said Tuesday it has arranged the lease for Oro Gold Cosmetics' first New York flagship at 118 East 57th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues.

The retailer currently operates 50 dedicated boutiques and spas in affluent markets worldwide, including London, Barcelona, Moscow, Dubai and Singapore, as well as in such U.S. cities as Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Boston, Miami and throughout California, from San Diego to Sacramento.

New York -- OfficeMax has become the latest retailer with a smaller-store, urban format either open or in the wings.
 
The retailer will unveil its smaller concept sometime in 2013, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. The new format will range between 5,000 sq. ft. and 15,000 sq. ft., the report said.

New York -- Starbucks Coffee Co. on Friday opened its first location in Vietnam, following an expanded long-term relationship with Hong Kong Maxim’s Group.
 
The two-level flagship store has been designed to reflect Starbucks’ signature coffee heritage, while embracing Vietnam’s distinctive local traditions and coffee culture. It is located the bustling neighborhood of Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1.

Green Bay, Wis. -- Shopko announced it has completed the conversion of 163 Pamida stores making it one of the largest U.S. retailers focused on serving smaller and rural communities. It was a year ago that Shopko and Pamida first announced their intent to merge the two companies and convert the existing Pamida locations to the Shopko Hometown store format. One year later, the conversion of the last group of Pamida stores is now complete with the final 36 stores celebrating their official grand openings as Shopko Hometown.

Shopping center companies: Receive recognition for your 2012 development, acquisition and third-party management activities. The 24th annual Chain Store Age “Fastest Growing” awards will recognize the most active shopping center owners, managers and acquirers for projects, contracts and transactions completed between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012.

New York -- Australian import Lorna Jane will open the largest store in its U.S. portfolio, a 3,000-sq.-ft. unit in San Francisco, in February.
 
The retailer, which specializes in fashionable yoga clothing, opened 10 stores in Southern California in 2012, and is now expanding into the Bay Area. Lorna Jane is also looking at locations in Corte Madera, San Jose, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek, as it looks to open 15 more stores by the end of this year, the report said.

Indianapolis -- Lids Sports Group and the National Football League announced Thursday that Lids will manage multiple retail locations in New Orleans, in addition to operating the principal NFL Shop at Super Bowl Presented by Visa.  

The temporary stores are located within the French Quarter, Riverwalk, and local NFL host hotels as a means to offer Super Bowl spectators alternate sites to purchase official fan gear prior to the NFL season’s championship game.