A note to Marketplace column readers: The Business Journal now is publishing my column on the auto and retail markets every other week. The move is designed to accommodate our new apparel column, which runs in alternating weeks with my column. See you again in two weeks.
Alex Mendoza calls now the “best worst time” to open a business.
Mendoza’s Addicting Food Concepts Oper-ators Inc., based in Trabuco Canyon, plans to open five Einstein Bros. bagel stores in Orange County in the next five years. The first store is expected to open before this time next year.
Mendoza and partner Ricardo Voegelin are scouting openings at strip malls in South County. They’re finding the deals are far better than two years ago. So are the locations.
Landlords are a lot more flexible, he said.
Mendoza was born and raised in Mexico and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ hotel and restaurant program, graduating in 1980.
After that, he worked his way up to managing 90 Coco’s Restaurant & Bakeries. Mendoza also ran operations for Anaheim-based grocery store operator Northgate Gonzalez Market and El Gallo Giro Mexican restaurants.
He’s financing the business with proceeds from property he sold in Mexico and other savings.
Mendoza chose to franchise with Lakewood, Colo.-based Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc. because of its brand name recognition and its marketing and training support, among other reasons.
The stores, which sell a wide variety of bagels and bagel sandwiches, do about $750,000 in annual sales.
Einstein has 600 restaurants in 36 states.
Mariners Mile
Newport Beach’s Mariners Mile gateway development was supposed to be the fancy Bel Mar & #233; (which means beautiful sea in Italian) boutique shopping center. The center was proposed in 2004, but it has failed to live up to its name, claiming just empty dirt and boarded up buildings.
The 2.5-acre site, which starts at Dover Street and ends at McDonald’s, just doesn’t fit in with yachts, fancy cars and the upscale Balboa Bay Club across the street.
Thanks to the economic downturn and other glitches, the project has stalled.
Allied Retail Partners LLC in Newport Beach and its partner, Red Mountain Retail Group Inc. of Santa Ana, reportedly are seeking a buyer. The companies couldn’t be reached for comment.
It sets the tone for what has been a rocky strip of prime coastal real estate.
Up a bit farther along Mariners Mile, luxury auto dealer Newport European left an empty building after it moved its Rolls-Royces to Campus Drive in Newport Beach.
Next door, Lamborghini of Orange County closed and an FBI investigation found that the dealer, owned by the Keuylian family, misused money borrowed from Volkswagen Credit Inc. to pay off debts from other businesses.
But other stores are popping up.
Beach Bunny Swimwear is moving into the former Lamborghini location. The A Market, formerly a liquor store, was revamped and opened last year. Right next door, the A Restaurant opened last year.
The Wine Lab also opened last year.
The latest arrival to Mariners Mile is Newport Jewelers, which recently held its grand opening. Newport Jewelers’ niche is custom jewelry at lower prices. Even in Newport Beach, people are seeking lower prices, said Azim Ghafoori, store manager.
“We price according to the market,” he said.
If diamonds cost less, the jeweler passes the savings on to its customers, Ghafoori said.
Newport Jewelers has a wholesale business in Los Angeles and a small boutique, Happy Jewelry at the Fullerton Jewelry Mart. It’s a family business owned by Gabe Arik.
Ghafoori said he special delivers jewelry to out-of-town buyers.
Several of its clients are Las Vegas club owners. The store gets most of its business from referrals by existing customers, he said.
Many of jeweler’s clients are long-time customers and Ghafoori considers many his friends.
The store will be featured in an upcoming episode of “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”
Gas Tax
You wouldn’t expect it, but Michael Jackson (not that one), chief executive of Fort Laud-erdale-based AutoNation Inc., advocates for a gas tax to promote demand for fuel-efficient autos.
Jackson, who heads the largest auto dealer chain, offered some of his ideas to revive the industry in Wards Auto magazine. Jackson said he doesn’t believe consumers will buy economical autos unless they have a good reason.
Consumers believe they have a “divine right” to low gas prices, he said.
Jackson also said he could improve business 20% if he could finance more customers. He blames the government for allowing the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which he said sparked the credit crisis.
As might be expected, he’s in favor of bridge loans to keep the industry going.
