Steve Yalof departs RKF.

Robert K. Futterman's second-in-command has gone to work for Polo Ralph Lauren. Just last week, Steve Yalof--formerly a president at RKF store leasing--was named senior vice president of real estate for Polo Retail and Club Monaco.

Yalof--38 years old--joined RKF 15 months ago after leaving his post within Gap's real estate division.

"I think it's a good move for Steve. It was actually a surprise to a lot of people when he went to RKF originally," said one retail broker.

Yalof was unavailable for comment last week. In fact, he was impossible to locate.

RKF store leasing handles Polo's retail leasing in New York City, which might explain why Polo sought after Yalof for the post. Before working for the Gap, Yalof worked for a national REIT with $3 billion worth of real estate assets.

Yalof worked as a retail broker for Edward S. Gordon prior to this, and--according to the RKF website--was prescient enough to open a Rollerblade store in the Hamptons "before the trend took flight."

Yalof was born to be in retail, it seems. His father Herbert was president of Macy's northeast operations.

An RKF spokesman said that the firm would not comment on Yalof's move.

Yalof's move comes at the end of a summer-long battle for top talent in the real estate industry. Back in July, Mary Ann Tighe left Insignia/ESG to become head of CB Richard Ellis' New York operations. Her defection was one of a string of such moves that transferred top talent throughout the industry.