Red Lobster will open a new restaurant Oct. 13 at Forest Fair Mall in Forest Park.

The 242-seat, 7,100 square-foot restaurant is the company's first "Coastal Home" themed restaurant in Greater Cincinnati, featuring a design that emphasizes the "bright, open feel of the sea.''

Red Lobster has six other locations in the Cincinnati area.

The new restaurant will replace the Red Lobster at 631 Northland Blvd., which will close Saturday.

Boot Country takes part in promotion

Lucky customers of Boot Country near the intersection of Kemper and Chester roads in Sharonville might be celebrating the holiday season on an Indian Spirit Deluxe Motorcycle - valued at $18,995 - thanks to the Durango Open Road Sweepstakes.

Boot Country is an authorized Durango Boot retailer.

Customers can register at the store to win the classic Indian motorcycle between now and Nov. 15.

The winner will be selected by Durango Boot in December with delivery to take place prior to the holidays.

Half Price Books comes to Northgate

Half Price Books, known for its dedication to literacy projects and environmental issues, will add a third store to the Cincinnati area with its newest location scheduled to open Oct. 10.

The Northgate store, at 9720 Colerain Ave., will celebrate its official opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9 a.m., led by representatives of the Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati.

They will make the first purchases in the new store with a $100 gift card donated by Half Price Books.

An open house will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Refreshments will be served, and guests will have the opportunity to win Half Price Books gift cards. These events are free and open to the public

Monitor finds retail sales up steadily

According to ShopperTrak's National Retail Sales Estimate, U.S. retail sales last week grew by a solid 6.5 percent over the same period in 2002.

This was the 22nd consecutive week of year-over-year sales growth dating back to April 26 and the strongest performance since the week ending Aug. 23, when sales spiked by 7.3 percent.

This week's strong gain puts U.S. retail on track to close September 5 percent stronger than last year. This would give the sector three consecutive months with year-over-year gains of at least 5 percent.

E-mail rtucker@enquirer.com.