Other news items of interest from the Orange County Business Journal
Costa Mesa-based action-sports retailer Hurley International LLC tapped founder and Chairman Bob Hurley as interim chief executive after Michael Egeck resigned, according to a statement from Hurley parent Nike Inc. of Beaverton, Ore. Egeck took the chief executive’s post at Bellevue, Wash.-based Eddie Bauer LLC.
Shares of Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. saw an immediate jump after a disclosure that Chief Executive Gary Schoenfeld and two company directors bought 300,000 company shares. The action-sports retailer has been shutting underperforming stores and tweaking its product mix at others. It reported a $15.6 million loss for the April quarter, narrowed from $28.7 million in red ink a year earlier, with a 1% quarterly sales rise from a year earlier to $173.8 million.
Dana Point-based distributor ePunk Inc. received an order from an undisclosed beverage company for 600 motor scooters. EPunk markets motorcycles, gas- and electric-motor scooters, all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and accessories through a group of websites.
The Seal Beach Planning Commission cleared the way for a housing development on land previously used by a water utility. The commission voted to change zoning of the nearly 11-acre property from commercial to residential. The commission also approved a plan to allow residential development on 4.5 acres of the parcel, where Newport Beach-based Bay City Partners aims to build 48 homes on the site.
The Santa Ana City Council approved a historic designation for a 5-acre tract with one of the last orange groves in Orange County. The designation puts at least a temporary halt to plans by Irvine-based Tava Development Co. to build 24 homes on the land, which is owned by Irvine-based Concordia University and Orange Lutheran High School.
Irvine-based drug maker Allergan Inc. won a new trial in a case brought by a Virginia man who won a $212 million jury award last year after claiming brain damage from Botox injections. A federal judge ruled that jurors should have been told that Allergan couldn’t add a health-risk warning to Botox packaging without prior Food and Drug Administration approval.
Aliso Viejo-based Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. sold the 284-room Marriott Del Mar in San Diego for $66 million to an undisclosed buyer. Sunstone now owns 32 hotels, including the Fairmont Newport Beach and Hyatt Regency Newport Beach.
OC ranked 20th among 65 metropolitan areas for growth in manufacturing jobs last year, according to newgeography, a website whose editors include urban-futures specialist Joel Kotkin, who also is affiliated with Chapman University in Orange. Seattle topped the rankings.
David Goronkin, former chief executive of Real Mex Restaurants Inc. in Cypress, was appointed chief executive of the San Diego-based parent of the Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes chains. Goronkin succeeds Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. founder Michael Mack, who exited the company in May. Former Garden Fresh President Ken Keane also resigned; his post won’t be refilled.
Universal Protection Service in Santa Ana acquired Augusta, Ga.-based Regent Security Services Inc. Terms were undisclosed. Universal Protection is the security division of Santa Ana-based Universal Services of America.
Identive Group Inc. in Santa Ana won a contract to supply an unnamed federal agency with 266,000 smart-card readers on unspecified terms.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
UP: The outlook on bankruptcies in Orange County in April, when 1,385 cases were filed by businesses and individuals, down 16% from a year earlier, according to data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Filings have fallen on a year-to-year basis for most of the past 12 months, with exceptions in August and March.
DOWN: New business filings in OC in May. A total of 2,782 businesses filed fictitious business names with the clerk-recorder’s office for the month, a nearly 5% drop from a year earlier. The filings—also known as DBAs—dipped less than 1% here for the 12 months through May.
