People to Watch: William Foley, Andrew Puzder
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SPECIAL REPORT
Anaheim-based CKE Restaurants Inc. has turned a corner with Chairman William Foley and Chief Executive Andrew Puzder directing the course.
Next year will be critical for the operator of Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and pending acquisition La Salsa. Profit is the watchword. Key to that happening: Hardee’s. The struggling unit has showed glimmers of a turnaround, reporting a same-store sales increase of 1% in August and in November.
But CKE, which continues to report net losses, needs to build on momentum. Foley and Puzder have been upping their stakes in the company and say they’ve made progress this past year by selling some Hardee’s stores to franchisees and closing other unprofitable ones. The focus in 2002 will be on operations and bolstering brands. That process becomes even more critical as CKE takes over La Salsa and Green Burrito from Foley’s the Santa Barbara Restaurant Group. CKE intends to nearly double the 80-store La Salsa chain in the San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles. There also are up to 55 Carl’s Jr. and up to 45 new Hardee’s stores projected for next year.
Company to Watch: Ambiguous Industries
Ambiguous Industries is big among teens and the mid-20s set and could go wider next year.
For now, Ambiguous is under a lot of people’s radar. Frank Delgadillo founded the Irvine-based company in 1995 as a Chapman University student. He said he came up with the name while writing a legal paper,he needed another word for “vague.”
“For some reason it caught my eye,” Delgadillo said of the Ambiguous name.
Delgadillo said he posted the word up in his dorm and jokingly told people someday he was going to start a clothing company under the moniker. Delgadillo started out by creating a small collection of men’s clothes ,some denim pants and tops. The line was snapped up by The Closet (unorthodox), an urban fashion shop in Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. Soon, members from OC bands such as Home Grown, the Black Eyed Peas and Blink started sporting the look.
“Music was a big thing that (put) us on the map,” Delgadillo said.
Two years ago, Delgadillo partnered up with Don Kerkes, former head sales guy at Mossimo Inc. The company counts 15 employees and is carried by several hundred specialty shops and boutiques. Next on Delgadillo’s plate is a women’s line, he said.
,Jennifer Bellantonio
