California Centers Magazine serves retailers, developers, shopping center owners, investment sales brokers and tenant representation firms throughout the state of California.
Issue link: https://californiacenters.epubxp.com/i/472297
March 2015 | California Centers Magazine 29 C C Names in the News and retail developments on the horizon. This follows a plan approved by the City Council in 2011 allowing mixed-use development to be built on Thousand Oaks Boulevard between Moorpark Road and Duesenberg Drive. The Wendy's Co. will sell another 500 company-owned restaurants to franchisees by mid-2016 in an effort to reduce corporate ownership of the chain to fve percent of its 6,500- unit system. "As we look to 2015 and beyond, we plan to continue improving the quality of our earnings by growing same restaurant sales, expanding margins and evolving our plans for system optimization," said Wendy's CEO Emil Brolick. The effort comes on the heels of an initiative that involved more than 400 units being sold to franchisees last year, a move intended to speed efforts to remodel locations under an Image Activation Program (the company requires franchisees to remodel restaurants as a condition of their purchase). JCPenney is implementing a makeover at its network of in-store hair salons in a bid to attract a younger clientele, who might be enticed to stay in the store and shop. The retail concept will collaborate with the editors of InStyle magazine in a licensing partnership that will change the appearance and moniker of the salons. By 2016, all 850 of the chain's salons will be converted over to The Salon by InStyle format. Also this year, JCPenney will begin integrating wider entries and updated reception areas, featuring new furniture and wall décor. Some salons will have a loft design, with new salon equipment and sinks, as well as featuring accent colors of gold and brown. The salons currently account for most of the company's services business, comprising 5 percent of the retailer's total annual sales. It has been determined that Penney's salon clients visit the destination about eight time per year and spend twice as much in the store as the average customer. Highly regarded ar- chitect Jon Adams Jerde, FAIA, credit- ed with reinventing the shopping center as an experiencial and entertainment destination, passed away February 9 th at his home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles follow- ing a longstanding illness. The Found- er and Chairman of Venice-based The Jerde Partnership, he led a team responsible for the development of hundreds of urban places around the globe. Jerde studied architecture at USC, graduating in 1965. A trip to Eu- rope served as inspiration for Jerde's efforts at "placemaking," designing places where people could fnd the warmth of community while enjoy- ing shopping, dining, entertainment, promenading and people watching. Over the years, Jerde's projects pro- vided economic and social benefts to numerous declining urban dis- tricts. After having left the profession in 1975, Jon Jerde was hired by Er- nest Hahn to design Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego. Completed in 1985, the project evolved into a village incorporating stores and restaurants that connected the downtown to the waterfront. Jon Jerde is also credited with designing City Walk at Universal Studios, and collaborating on the de- sign of numerous high profle resorts and casinos in Las Vegas in the 1990s, which set the standard for subsequent development along The Strip. Jon Jerde's fnal project (in collaboration with fellow partner David Rogers, FAIA) was the repositioning of San- ta Monica Place, which involved re- moving the roof and opening it to the Third Street Promenade. When he be- came ill, Jon Jerde shifted ownership of The Jerde Partnership to its current partners. Consumer electronics retailer Radio Shack fled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, and disclosed plans to sell thousands of stores to its largest shareholder and proceed with plans to close the remainder of its 4,000 U.S. store locations. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company is also in talks about selling its remaining assets located overseas. Cache Inc. will fle for bankruptcy and is planning to liquidate the company, having recently sought bids from frms that can help the women's clothing chain shut its stores down and sell its assets. Saladworks LLC fled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, saying it was necessary for the company to be sold or restructured amid lawsuits from a minority owner and fnance bank. The salad franchise, which operates over 100 locations, said the day-to- day operations remain unaffected. "This is the best way to maximize value for our franchisees, as well as other stakeholders, and allow our operations to emerge from bankruptcy quickly," said CEO John Scardapane. Scardapane owns 70 percent of the company, and sold 30 percent to Vernon Hill in 2008, who has resigned from Saladworks' board of directors and exercised his right to have the company buy back his shares. He fled the lawsuit in October in Delaware seeking that payment. Saladworks began looking for a buyer in 2013 and has stated in bankruptcy documents that it has parties interested in buying the chain, but the dispute with Hill and the bank have prevented a sale from occurring. Ruth's Hospitality Group, parent of Ruth's Chris Steak House, has completed a comprehensive evaluation of its restaurants and is implementing a multi-year effort to remodel existing locations. Ruth's will begin remodeling 15 locations a year, to add capacity and improve kitchen effciency, with remodels this year estimated to cost $6 to $10 million. The company also disclosed that it will expand into smaller markets in the coming years, with a plan to add three to fve new corporate restaurants Jerde