Stories in this week’s Orange County Business Journal
TOP STORIES
Aliso Viejo-based sports shoe company American Sporting Goods Corp. has been acquired for $145 million by Brown Shoe Co. of St. Louis. American Sporting Goods makes and sells basketball and other athletic shoes under brands Avia, Ryka and And1. It has yearly sales of about $230 million. Brown Shoe, which has $2.5 billion in annual sales, markets several brands, including Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl’s, LifeStride and Via Spiga. It also runs the Famous Footwear and Naturalizer retail chains. The buy allows Brown Shoe to expand its lineup of brands and “adds the critical element of performance athletic footwear to our comfort and fitness offerings,” Chief Operating Officer Diane Sullivan said. American Sporting Goods is set to continue operating in Aliso Viejo with executives now reporting to Brown Shoe wholesale division President Mark Lardie. American Sporting Goods Chief Executive and owner Jerry Turner will stay on as a consultant for a year to help with a transition.
Costa Mesa-based Pacific Premier Bank took over $205.3 million in deposits and $211 in assets from Canyon National Bank in Palm Springs, which was shut down by federal regulators. The addition brings Pacific Premier’s deposits to about $865 million and its assets to about $1 billion. Canyon National’s failure is the 18th in the U.S. so far this year. It is expected to cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $10 million. Pacific Premier plans to continue to operate Canyon National’s three branches, taking its total to nine. The deal puts Pacific Premier in striking distance of the top spot for locally based banks in terms of as-sets. (See related Special Report story)
APPAREL
Acquisitions by Irvine-based clothing maker and retailer Billabong USA helped drive higher revenue for its Australian parent for the six months through December. Billabong USA, part of Billabong International Ltd., saw sales of $408 million for the period, up 38% from a year earlier. The gain accounted for nearly half of the parent’s total and followed Billabong USA’s late 2010 buy of Canadian retailer West 49. Billabong USA also acquired Costa Mesa-based Rvca Clothing last year. Billabong USA saw “good improvement” in sales at its more than 200 North American stores under its own name and other brands. Profits at Billabong USA, fell 6% to $29 million for the six months through December, partly on the costs of recent acquisitions.
REAL ESTATE
The San Juan Capistrano City Council voted to put a referendum on a housing development on the March 8 ballot. The council last year approved the Distrito La Novia/San Juan Meadows project by Lake Forest-based Advanced Real Estate Services Inc. for 130 houses, 500 horse stables and some commercial space. Citizens for Sensible Development surpassed the 2,000 signatures needed to qualify the referendum for a ballot. Advanced Real Estate said it plans to contest the referendum. It also said a vote against the current plan wouldn’t stop the project but could revive a prior plan that called for 440 residences, a hotel, church and school. The city is set to pay about $80,000 for a special election.
MANUFACTURING
Aviation electronics maker Rockwell Collins Inc. plans to lay off 140 workers by summer at an Irvine plant. Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Rockwell Collins plans to shift work from Irvine to Calexico, Mexicali and Florida. Another 150 people in Irvine are set to move to Rockwell Collins’ operation in Tustin. The company, which spun off in 2001 from Rockwell International Corp., employs about 1,000 people in the county.
OTHER NEWS
Orange County is expected to lead the state in employment growth with about 15,600 new jobs this year and nearly 29,000 in 2012, according to a forecast by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Council. Gains are expected throughout the local economy with the exception of the government sector. The increases would be an improvement but still amount to relatively modest additions compared to the county’s base of more than 1.3 million nonfarm jobs. The increases also would fall short of lowering the unemployment rate due to regular growth in the numbers of job seekers.
Kristine Thalman announced plans to retire as chief executive of the Building Industry Association of Orange County after seven years with the trade group. She will step down on March 15. The group has yet to name a successor.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
DOWN: Business formations in January, as measured by applications for fictitious business names, or DBAs, with the Orange County Clerk Recorder’s Office. January saw 2,834 applications, down 6.6% from a year earlier. Most of applications were for new businesses, although some were for renewals or location changes.
