Retail franchisee Wayne Heck of Newport Beach is set to open the first Island Sole footwear store on the U.S. mainland this month. Island Sole, whose parent is headquartered in Honolulu, sells shoes and slippers by several brands, including locals OluKai and Sanuk, both of
Irvine, and San Clemente-based Rainbow Sandals. The new Island Sole is set for the Fashion Island retail center in Newport Center and will be the company’s first outside of Hawaii.
Costa Mesa apparel company Volcom Inc. said it is exiting the motocross business it started in 2009. “In an increasingly competitive and specialized global market, it is imperative that we continue to simplify the Volcom brand message so that we can achieve maximum differentiation and voice amplification,” Volcom Chief Executive Jason Steris said in a statement. Volcom, which is part of Paris-based Kering Group, was founded in 1991.
The National Council on Teacher Quality gave low marks to teaching programs at California State University, Fullerton, and Brandman University of Irvine. The council, along with U.S. News & World Report, gave the elementary and secondary programs the lowest marks possible. The schools said the ratings were meaningless. University of California, Irvine, meanwhile, got good scores—3 ½ out of four stars—for its undergraduate secondary education program.
An English higher education magazine named University of California, Irvine, the fifth-best college in the world less than 50 years old. No other American school made the top 10 listed by the Times Higher Education publication of London. UCI is 48 this year.
Hoag Hospital officials acknowledged last week that they stopped offering abortions at the facility because they wanted to partner with St. Joseph Health System, which prohibits abortions. The officials made the admission to the Los Angeles Times after earlier citing low demand as the reason for halting elective abortion procedures. The state attorney general’s office is investigating whether Hoag is ensuring there are accessible abortion alternatives, the Times reported. Hundreds of people for and against the ban demonstrated outside the hospital last week.
Orange County Register owner Freedom Communications Inc. announced it’s started a venture to represent companies and organizations selling naming and presentation rights. Freedom said it has signed deals to represent the Anaheim Ducks hockey team, MacGillivray Freeman Films in Laguna Beach and the non-profit Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The venture is separate from the Register news operation, the paper reported.
Trendy headphone maker Skullcandy Inc. plans to shutter its San Clemente office in a move to consolidate the company’s operations in its Park City, Utah, headquarters. The company, which makes headphones for audio and gaming along with other accessories, employs about 30 people here in marketing, creative, business development, legal and sales positions. Most of those employees will be offered the chance to relocate to Park City beginning in the summer, the company said in a statement. The office is expected to be closed by the fall.
Irvine-based toll road operator Cofiroute USA has signed a $60 million, five-year contract to provide management services for a 10-mile stretch of the Riverside (91) Freeway once an expansion is completed in 2017. The segment—dubbed the 91 Express Lanes—runs from the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway to the Riverside County line. Cofiroute signed the contract with the Orange County Transportation Authority and the Riverside County Transportation Commission. It also plans to hire 39 employees, according to Chief Executive Gary Hausdorfer.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: The hotel market in Orange County in April, when the average daily room rate rose 8.7% from a year earlier to $156.03 and the occupancy rate increased to 77.63%, according to industry researcher PKF Consulting USA. The Anaheim market saw the largest jump in average rates at 13.9% to $158.77. Revenue per available room—a key measure used to gauge hotels’ financial performance—grew 13.9% among OC hotels to $121.12.
