Devon Oddone of Sports Chalet, and David Gallagher of REI, managers of local sports retail stores, discuss how increased sales are tied to the cold weather.
Sporting goods retailer REI has completed a solar retrofit of its Arcadia store. The roof of the store is covered with photovoltaic solar panels, which will self-generate nearly 112,000 kilowatt hours of electricity and up to 30% of the store's annual energy needs.
Fewer shoppers were out the day after Christmas, a sign of the economy's current recession. Bargains and sales were everywhere, but people were not splurging. Sales data figures are given by SpendingPulse. (No space between Spending and Pulse)
H&M, the Swedish chain store, had its grand opening in Old Pasadena. Later in November, a 17,000 square foot H&M will open in Arcadia's Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita.
H & M, a fashion retailer, will open a store at Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita on December 14, 2006. The store will have fashions for men, women, teens, and lingerie.
Expansion of the Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita will begin soon. It will add 104,400 sq. ft. of retail, 18,400 sq. ft. of restaurants, a 7,800 sq. ft. food court, 45,000 sq. ft. of specialty stores, 54,300 sq. ft. of movie theaters, and a 5,400 sq. ft. auto center. The planned tenants include an AMC theater, Borders Book Store, and Sports Chalet. Expansion will be completed in 2005.
Westfield Santa Anita celebrated the opening of The Promenade, its $120 million open-air expansion of 30 stores. The 115,000 square foot addition was built on the former parking area adjacent to Nordstrom and Macy's. The 30 new stores, including Coach, J. Jill, Banana Republic and other upscale retailers, are set among landscaped walkways featuring fountains, seating areas, and shade trees.
The Westfield Group will acquire 15 department stores which are owned by Federated Department Stores, Inc., including stores in Arcadia and West Covina. Robinsons-May in Arcadia and Macy's in West Covina will become property of Westfield and converted for other uses.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant has voided a $30 million contract that Los Angeles County awarded to L.N. Curtis and Sons for fire equipment. Arcadia-based Allstar Fire Equipment sued the city and county of Los Angeles, claiming the selection process used to award the contract was improperly handled and the judge agreed. The actual funding for the contract came from the federal Department of Homeland Security. The judge's orders require the county to either restart the bidding process or re-evaluate all the bids properly.
Pasadena's Lighthouse Christian Store on Lake Avenue closed its business earlier this month, due to tough competition from bookstores like Amazon and big box stores like Costco, Sam's Club and Target. Lighthouse still has locations in Long Beach and Orange, but their stores in Glendale and Arcadia both closed in recent years.
Arcadia City Council has authorized the Arcadia Fire Department to spend $184,682 to buy an urban search and rescue truck and $64,408 on 100 ballistic vests for the Arcadia Police Department.
Monrovia High School Wildcats football team beat Arcadia High School with a 27-13 victory in the season opener. A photo of Darrell Cheng (AHS) and Nick Bueno (MHS) is included.