Nordstrom stores at South Coast Plaza and Irvine Spectrum Center are among a dozen nationwide set to open Topshop-branded departments in a sales partnership with the U.K. retail chain. Topshop is considered an affordable and trendy retailer similar to H&M of Sweden.
Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc.’s Outlander Sport crossover-utility vehicle is now being made in the U.S. The Cypress-based automaker moved the vehicle’s manufacturing from Japan to Normal, Ill., last week. Production at the U.S. plant will start at 50,000 vehicles annually, with plans for as many as 70,000 per year, according to Mitsubishi.
Los Angeles-based private equity firm Riordan, Lewis & Haden struck a $473 million deal to sell a healthcare consulting company, an investment headed by its Irvine office for the past five years. Indiana-based maxIT Healthcare Holdings Inc. is being acquired by McLean, Va.-based Science Applications International Corp. in a deal expected to close in August.
UCI Medical Center in Orange and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach made the annual best-hospitals list in U.S. News and World Report. UCI, which made the list for the 12th consecutive year, was 35th out of 50 hospitals the magazine lauded for geriatric care. Hoag was ranked 43rd among providers of orthopedic care.
David Pyott, chief executive of Irvine-based drug maker Allergan Inc., was named board chairman-elect of the California Healthcare Institute, a La Jolla-based nonprofit policy-research and advocacy group. Pyott has been a board member of the group since 1998 and served as chairman in 2003 and 2004.
Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. signed a lease for 65,000 square feet of former Albertson’s space in Huntington Beach. The arts-and-crafts store, at Edinger Avenue and Goldenwest Street, is expected to open in the fall with up to 50 workers.
The Costa Mesa City Council approved a plan in which the owners of Newport Banning Ranch agreed to pay the city $4.4 million to offset the effects of increased traffic from a proposed residential-commercial development. Plans call for 1,375 new homes plus shops, a small hotel, park space and a tract to be used for oil production.
The buyer of Irvine-based Yard House USA Inc. said it expects to keep the chain’s headquarters in Irvine and plans to grow it from 150 to 200 restaurants nationally. Yard House, which features a classic-rock theme and a selection of craft and specialty beers, has 39 restaurants in 13 states. It employs about 900 workers here, including its headquarters and several restaurants. Florida-based Darden Restaurants Inc., which operates chains such as Olive Garden and Red Lobster, recently announced its purchase of Yard House from San Francisco private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners LLC in a $585 million deal expected to close around the end of this year.
Same-store sales at Taco Bell Corp. climbed 13% during its June quarter compared with a year earlier. Sales were boosted by the Mexican-style fast-food chain’s launch of Doritos Locos Tacos in March and the introduction of breakfast items earlier in the year.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged STEC Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Manouchehr Moshayedi with insider trading, alleging he withheld “critical nonpublic information” likely to negatively affect the Santa Ana-based company’s stock price and a secondary offering in mid-2009. The SEC alleges Moshayedi made $134 million on the sale of 9 million shares during the period in question.
Several OC cities and agencies signed on in support of the city of Ontario’s proposal to take control of Ontario International Airport, currently operated by Los Angeles World Airports, and owned by the city of Los Angeles. The support came in the form of a resolution by the board of the Orange County Council of Governments, a joint regional planning authority with offices in Orange.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
Mixed: Employment in OC in June, when the jobless rate rose to 7.9% from 7.5% in May. The increase came despite the addition of 8,700 nonfarm jobs for a total 1,401,300 workers here, and likely stemmed from an increase in the labor pool. OC’s jobless rate is down from 9.1% in June 2011. The unemployment rate was 10.7% for California, and 8.4% for the U.S., in June.
