Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. said it will evaluate a shareholder’s call to replace four board members, but the teen retailer also expressed support for current directors. New York-based asset management firm Clinton Group Inc. filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month that would seek to obtain written consent from Wet Seal shareholders to replace four board members and fill one vacant position. Wet Seal said in a statement last week that the current board knows the company well and would be “far more capable of managing a quick and seamless return to our historic and successful fast fashion model than a group of new directors, no matter how experienced they may be.”
The San Clemente Planning Commission took testimony on a proposed zoning change to limit future development in the city’s downtown to two stories. The current code allows three-story buildings.
Irvine medical-device maker Endologix Inc. secured European regulatory approval for one of its devices. The company, which makes stents that are used to reinforce a ruptured or ballooning artery, said the European Union cleared its Nellix Endovascular Aneurysm sealing device. Endologix plans to introduce Nellix in a limited European launch in the second quarter.
The GameStop in the Irvine Spectrum shopping mall will host a launch party the evening prior to the launch of World of Warcraft’s next installment, Mists of Pandaria, which is set for 12 midnight on September 25. The fourth expansion of the online videogame franchise is the second new game launch this year for Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment Inc., which debuted its Diablo III with a similar launch party in May (see related story, page 1).
The Banning Ranch Conservancy filed suit against Newport Beach after its City Council approved a plan to build 1,375 homes on 401 acres. The group claims the city based its decision on an inadequate environmental impact report for the Banning Ranch site.
Newport Beach-based steakhouse chain Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar set a November opening for a new location in Beverly Hills. Fleming’s currently operates 64 restaurants nationally, including one OC location in Newport Beach.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will open two Walmart Supercenters in Irvine, one more than previously announced. One of the planned supermarkets will cover 120,000 square feet at 16555 Von Karman Ave. and is set to open next year, while the newly announced second store will open later this year at a former Great Indoors site in Irvine Home Center on Technology Drive. Each supermarket is expected to employ about 300.
Minnesota-based Supervalu Inc. will close four Albertsons supermarkets in Orange County. The moves are part of plans to shut 60 Albertsons deemed underperforming, including 19 supermarkets in Southern California.
Santa Ana-based Universal Protection Service acquired A&R Security Services Inc. in Blue Island, Ill. and its affiliate United Security LLC on unspecified terms. United Security is part of the A&R group of companies and provides mobile patrol and security officers services, among others.
T-shirts and skateboard-decks marketer Hendrickson Boards of Anaheim topped 12,000 entrants in the Big Break for Small Business competition, winning $25,000 and two days of business advice from sponsors Facebook and American Express. Hendrickson Boards—run by triplets David, Donnie and Darren Hendrickson—will use the prize money to more fully integrate nonprofits it works with into its website and marketing. The company donates a portion of its revenue to 150 organizations that help abandoned animals.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: OC home prices, which rose almost 2% in July from a year earlier, according to Santa Ana-based data service CoreLogic Inc. The median price posted a 0.2% increase in July on a month-to-month basis. Home prices climbed 4.4% from July 2011 on a statewide basis.
UP: The picture on bankruptcies in Orange County, where filings by businesses and individuals fell by 17% in July compared with a year earlier, and by 7% from the prior month, according to information from U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana. A total 1,174 business and individuals filed for bankruptcy. The monthly decline was biggest on a percentage basis since 2006.
