by The Editors on August 21, 2007
In the battle of the sports trading card giants it appears that Carlsbad’s Upper Deck has decided to terminate its tender offer for all outstanding share of Topps Co., Inc. . .
and added that the action of Topps made conditions precedent to the tender offer incapable of being satisfied. Further, Upper Deck said that all shares of Topps previously tendered and not withdrawn under the tender offer would be returned promptly in accordance with the terms of the tender offer.
Let’s just say that Upper Deck is not happy with the Topps board right now. And the deal is off.
[Link: RTT News]
by The Editors on August 18, 2007
The La Costa Greens created by Morrow Development will be hosting it’s “first-phase pricing and model” grand opening real estate feeding frenzy (they hope) on August 25th. If you’re looking for a home that features:
. . . artful designs reminiscent of California’s legendary coastal resort communities, the homes of La Costa Greens reflect time-honored Santa Barbara Mission, Mediterranean, Monterey Ranch and Tuscan styles. . . Blending the tranquility of a fabled romantic past with the liveliness of contemporary coastal California at its finest.
Then this is probably an event you won’t want to miss. Ah, track home heaven.
[Link: La Costa Greens]
by The Editors on August 16, 2007

Mark Gruman and Tim Loveday have no problem calling themselves “gurus.” They formed their Carlsbad-based sustainable furniture rep firm, Channel Logic, this year “to advance the presence of sustainability in the marketplace by becoming the premiere source for sustainable home furnishings and raw materials products.” Their blog Sustainable Furniture Gurus hopes to act as a conduit to facilitate sustainable furniture discussions.
We’re climbing mountains of paperwork to find answers on global trade issues, product sources, and questions on sustainable standards. It will take years before the global market goes from brown to green to truly sustainable.
It’s not easy being green. We all could use a little help, right?
[Link: Sustainable Furniture Gurus]
by The Editors on August 13, 2007
Carlsbad’s Laura Ogan was at the beach one day watching people try to fit square towels underneath a round umbrella when she had a thought: “Why doesn’t somebody invent a round towel with a hole in the middle to put their umbrella in.” No one had, so Ogan did. In fact, she filed and received a patent from the United States Patent Office for The O Towel, a round towel with two 100% polypropylene grommets that allow an umbrella to be planted in the sand right in the middle of the towel. Now, with the help of two other women, she is bringing the towel to market.
We took the O Towel out for a test run Sunday after Art In The Village and it worked exactly as promised. In fact, it made us feel stupid for having cut holes in all those old sheets. One thing: if you line the grommets up with the shadow of your umbrella pole, when the sun goes down you can move the umbrella to the hole on the outside of the circle and stay in the shade until sundown without moving the towel at all. And that is the genius behind the two-grommet design.
For more info call: 800.679.7032 and tell them you saw it on Carlsbadistan.
[Link: The O Towel]
by The Editors on August 10, 2007
According to a story in the San Diego Union Tribune Callaway has filed lawsuits in federal court in Texas and San Diego claiming that “TaylorMade, a division of Adidas also based in Carlsbad, was violating two golf ball patents and one dealing with an iron club.” Callaway declined to comment, however, Taylormade had no problem.
Scott Leightman, a spokesman for TaylorMade, said several of Callaway’s current drivers, a key market for each company, were infringing on his company’s patents. “There is more to the dispute than their allegations, and we’ll take appropriate measures to protect our patented technologies,” he said.
As we’ve learned from the tech industry: lawsuits are simply forms of negotiation.
[Link: San Diego Union Tribune]
by The Editors on August 9, 2007
Sure Carlsbad has been waiting for a municipal golf course for 17 years, and yes, there is a lot of excitement: the two days of locals only golf scheduled for this weekend sold out in 20 minutes. The question the North County Times is asking is: then what? What happens after the honeymoon is over and The Crossings-at-Carlsbad is just one more Southern California golf course?
“Just because a new course opens up doesn’t mean that 35,000 more rounds (a year) are being played,” said John McNair, vice president of operations for JC Golf, which manages nine courses in San Diego and Temecula, including The Crossings’ neighbor, Encinitas Ranch, and inland courses such as Twin Oaks in San Marcos, the Rancho Bernardo Inn and the par-3 Reidy Creek in Escondido. “The Crossings is going to take a chunk from everyone.”
In an industry that’s currently not growing it will be interesting for everyone. Maybe this will force a price war at local courses. Then we all win.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on August 9, 2007
In their second quarter report Carlsbad-based mexican restaurant chain Rubio’s announced that their total revenues grew 15.9 percent, net income for the quarter rose 14.6 percent, and they came in a penny ahead of the street with earnings of 5 cents a share.
RUBO closed Wednesday’s regular trading at $10.35, up $0.20 or 1.97%, on a volume of 8,814 shares on the Nasdaq. In after-hours trading, the stock further gained $0.10 or 1.00%, trading at $10.45.
Great, now we’re hungry and it’s only 6:21 AM.
[Link: RTT News]
by The Editors on August 7, 2007
We’ve always wondered what the story was behind that fish hatchery at the south end of Garfield on the Agua Hedionda Lagoon. Well, turns out it’s part of the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. And the president of that company, Donald Kent, is profiled today in the San Diego Union Tribune. He explains what it’s all about.
The hatchery program’s goal was to do something that had never been done before: take white sea bass from the wild and spawn them in the hatchery. Then, with the help of sport fishermen, grow the juveniles in cages situated off the coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego.
It’s good to know that science and the Southern California fishery are benefiting from the profits SeaWorld extracts from its cellblock of performing animal prisoners.
[Link: San Diego Union Tribune]
by The Editors on August 7, 2007
Vista’s San Diego Golf Academy would like to move in to an office building on Camino Vida Roble near Palomar Airport Rd, however, Carlsbad’s zoning does not allow “schools” near the airport because of safety concerns. Academy director Richard Iorio will go before Carlsbad’s City Council to get permission.
. . . the city’s Planning Department is recommending that the council approve the academy’s proposal because the academy’s students are adults and the graduates often take jobs with some of the big golf manufacturing companies. . .
The academy could help pay for The Crossings-at-Carlsbad. According to the North County Times students book “nearly 20,000 rounds of golf a year on local courses and purchase more than 40,000 buckets of balls at practice facilities.”
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on August 7, 2007
Topps Co. has given Carlsbad’s Upper Deck the go ahead to begin it’s $425 million bid for the trading card and chewing gum giant after an antitrust waiting period ended.
Topps said it continues to negotiate with Upper Deck, but reiterated that its board still supports the $384.5 million offer from a group led by former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner and Chicago-based Madison Dearborn Partners LLC.
The Topps directors are still telling shareholders to vote against Upper Deck.
[Link: Chicago Tribune]