by The Editors on May 11, 2010
Carlsbadistan’s world famous Rubio’s Fish Taco restaurants has agreed to be purchased by a Greenwich, Connecticut based private equity firm called Mill Road Capital, according to a Bradley Fikes story in the North County Times.
If the deal goes through, Rubio’s stockholders will get $8.70 per share. That’s about 45 percent more than the closing price on Oct. 14, just before Rubio’s disclosed an unsolicited offer, the company said. . . Rubio’s board declined that particular offer from a group headed by Los Angeles-based investor Alex Meruelo. But Rubio’s said it was open to receiving other offers. . . Shares closed Monday after the sale announcement at $8.50 each, up 84 cents from Friday’s close of $7.66.
Rubio’s founder Ralph Rubio says he and the management team will be staying on with the company. “They like what we’re doing, they appreciate the management team, and the results we’ve had, so the management team stays on in our current roles,” Rubio said.
Then again that’s what the new owners always say, isn’t it?
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on May 11, 2010
Last week the California State Water Resources Control Board voted to protect sea life by phasing out “once-through cooling for seaside power plants” like Carlsbadistan’s iconographic Encina Power Station because the process “kills more than 2.6 million fish and 19 billion fish larvae annually,” according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“It will have the result of retiring a very high portion of the coastal, once-through cooled power plants,” said Steve Hoffmann, regional president for NRG Energy, which owns the Carlsbad facility. . . “We have to conform with this new water policy by the end of 2017,” Hoffmann said. “We either have to put in closed-loop cooling, or we have to have a way of screening marine life from our intake, which is technically very difficult.”
Maybe they could just dismantle the entire plant and ship it to Arizona. . . leaving the tower, of course. . .
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on May 10, 2010
The Carlsbadistan based trading card and collectables company Upper Deck Co., cut 119 employees, according to Califonia WARN notices filed in March 2010 and reported Friday in the San Diego Business Journal.
Company spokesman Terry Melia said the job cuts were needed to “right-size” Upper Deck’s work force after recent changes in its license portfolio. . . Upper Deck declined to disclose its post-layoff employment numbers, but said early this year that it had 250 employees. . . The layoffs come amid a series of business and legal setbacks for Upper Deck during the past year.
The company has had several legal issues regarding licensing rights to products it has been selling. Namely with being accused of counterfeiting Yu-Gi-Oh cards and selling cards featuring Major League Baseball players that the company was reportedly no longer licensed to show. Tough times.
[Link: San Diego Business Journal]
by The Editors on April 29, 2010
Yesterday (April 28, 2010), Legoland California invited the media to don hard hats and go behind the scenes at the amusement park’s new $12 million Legoland Water Park. Scheduled to open on May 28, 2010, the new park will feature eight different wet rides and attractions.
“LEGO founder Ole Kirk Christiansen once said ‘no matter what we design, there are two toys that LEGO can never improve upon: the ball and water,” said Ronchetti during the hard hat tour. “Exactly one month from today, I believe LEGOLAND California is going to combine LEGO and water right here on the ground you’re standing on, on a scale that’s never been done before with the world’s first interactive LEGO themed Water Park!”
We may not have attended the Legoland Media Waterpark Tour, but we were very honored to be invited as media trips are the only time we can afford to get in the front gates.
For more photos and the official release follow the jump.
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by The Editors on April 25, 2010
The Surfrider Foundation has definitely not thrown in the town on their opposition to the Poseidon Resources Desalination Plant scheduled to be built in the shores of Carlsbadistan’s Agua Hedionda Lagoon.
The environmental group filed a lawsuit on Earth Day (April 22, 2010) challenging a permit approved by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. Surfrider says that the “facility would kill countless marine organisms, with an illegal plan to replace these fish and other marine life through a restoration project somewhere else.”
“When the law says you must ‘minimize the intake and mortality’ of marine life, that doesn’t mean you can kill millions of marine organisms and then try to replace them somehow,” said Joe Geever, Surfrider Foundation’s California Policy Coordinator. “The Regional Water Quality Control Board misinterpreted the law, and it’s unfortunate the project has progressed this far without a final decision on the type of intake and facility design that meets California’s law to protect our precious marine environment.”
According to Michael Burge story in the San Diego Union-Tribune this is one of six lawsuits that have been filed regarding Poseidon’s plans for the lagoon. Three are still progress.
For the entire Surf Rider release, follow the jump or click here for Carlsbadistan’s coverage of the entire saga.
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by The Editors on April 21, 2010
We’re probably the last of the Carlsbadistan four-eyed to discover William Stevenson’s Hot Shots Eyeware Repair located downstairs in the Village Professional Center at 690 Carlsbad Village Drive. But damn, can this guy fix glasses.
The shop, in a building we never even knew existed, was packed like a Kaiser ER waiting room when we arrived. William, wearing his Hot Shots apron, stood in the middle of the sparsely decorated room when we arrived explaining to a customer why there would be no charge for the repair he’d just performed.
We grabbed one of the two empty chairs and asked the woman next to us how long Hot Shots had been around. “I’ve been coming here for a couple years,” she said. “And I drive all the way from San Diego. I don’t know how he does it. I’m always stepping on my glasses and he keeps fixing them.”
On the wall behind the glass counter, prices for all the different repairs Stevenson performs are hand lettered in erasable marker next to their corresponding parts on a four-by-five foot white board that features a schematic of a pair of glasses. There are pieces to glasses that we didn’t even know had names, but for between $5 and $15 Stevenson will fix pretty much anything that can break on a pair of glasses.
After disappearing with our frames into his “restricted area” workshop it was only a matter of minutes before our glasses were on the counter, sparkling, and as close to perfect as possible. Thankfully we didn’t need new $100 lenses and we didn’t have to wait. The charge? $5.
We’ll definitely, be back. There is no reason to go anywhere else.
[Link: Hot Shots Eyeware Repair]
by The Editors on April 21, 2010
It’s been 13 months since Carlsbadistan’s Aviara Resort owner BRCP HEF Hotel Tenant LLC first tried to get out of its management contract with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in what we called the Battle of Aviara. BRCP claimed Four Seasons was not living up to its contractual obligations and Four Season disagreed.
Now, after lockouts, and checkpoints, and accusations from both sides it appears that arbitration has worked, according to a story on the San Diego News Network. Four Seasons is out and Hyatt Hotels is in.
Hyatt Hotels has been selected to take over management of the Aviara Resort in Carlsbad from Four Seasons Hotels, it was announced Tuesday. . . Hyatt plans to brand and manage Aviara Resort as part of its luxury Park Hyatt group on June 21, when it will become the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, according to the company.
According to the story, the arbitration panel agreed with Four Seasons that no management agreements were broken, however they apparently decided that Four Seasons should no longer be involved with the property.
For the entire BRCP HEF Hotel Tenant LLC press release regarding the change please follow the jump.
[Link: San Diego News Network]
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by The Editors on April 16, 2010
Carlsbadistan’s power PR agency Bolt Public Relations (Caroline Callaway, Jesse Garner, Anne Carr, and Dana Flower pictured right) brought home the Agency of the Year Award at the first annual #influenceSD awards show held Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at Anthology in downtown San Diego. Bolt beat out 29 other San Diego agencies for the recognition.
Caroline Callaway, president of Bolt PR, explained, “One element in the new media space that intrigues us is one that has been a driving force in our agency’s PR services: the opportunity like never before to have a voice, spread a message, and communicate to thousands, if not millions, in real-time and on your own terms. Rather than relying on the tabloids to tell a story or doing damage control through a press conference, influentials can broadcast the message on their own terms through their Twitter feed, blog or Fan Page.”
We know Bolt is for real because they found us on Twitter and have been in constant contact ever since. And we’re not the easiest to get along with. Seriously. Congrats, you deserve it. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 10, 2010
Merlin Entertainments, the UK based company that operates the Legoland theme parks may be going public in June according to a story in the Times Online.
Merlin, which is controlled by Blackstone, the American private equity group, had hoped to list its shares just before Easter. Asked whether it might push the button before the third quarter, Mr Varney replied: “It’s all dependent on how the market goes. . . “An IPO [initial public offering] remains a very strong option for us, though we won’t go at any price because we don’t need to refinance until 2012.”
[Link: Times Online]
by The Editors on March 10, 2010
Apparently Adidas isn’t the only shoe giant sticking their feet into Carlsbadistan’s golf industry. Today Puma AG announced that they have purchased Carlsbadistan based Cobra Golf, according to a post on Businessweek.com.
Herzogenaurach-based Puma said Wednesday it will acquire 100 percent of Cobra Golf, but did not provide any financial details. The deal which faces regulatory approval is expected to close in the second quarter.
Wonder what Cobra Golf’s former owner Acushnet is going to do with Titleist and Footjoy?
[Link: Businessweek]
Carlsbadistan’s world famous Rubio’s Fish Taco restaurants has agreed to be purchased by a Greenwich, Connecticut based private equity firm called Mill Road Capital, according to a Bradley Fikes story in the North County Times.
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