Goodbye Bargain Circus

You’re in for a disappointment if you thought the closing of Bargain Circus would bring a more upscale retail tenant to La Brea Avenue.

A 99 Cents Only Store will open this spring at the site where Bargain Circus for decades offered a melange of merchandise ranging from disco phones that light up when they ring to all manner of food packaged in tins.

Bargain Circus filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early 1997 with $600,000 in assets and $1.9 million in debts. The 99 Cents Only chain bought the assets for $425,000 and is now gutting and refurbishing the 19,000-square-foot space at Willoughby Street.

“The corner has been a deep-discount corner for a long time and it will continue. It’s not a bad thing,” said operations manager Eric Schiffer. “Our president has lived in the neighborhood for 35 years. It’s an area that is near and dear to him and the manager of that store knows he will pop in any time.”

Y2K Vacation Ban

Members of the KCBS-TV Channel 2 news team had better forget about taking vacation time immediately before and after New Year’s Eve. The reason is the possibility that the world’s computers may go haywire once the clock strikes midnight.

“I don’t think we’ll be in a position where we can whoop it up on New Year’s Eve,” said News Director Larry Perret, who issued an edict to the news department barring vacations between Dec. 29 and Jan. 7.

“It’ll be the biggest news story on the planet Earth that day without any problems. If there are problems, it magnifies it,” Perret said. “It’s the equivalent of the Super Bowl for news people.”

Still, Perret said he might accommodate some vacation requests if he becomes convinced there will be minimal Y2K impacts.

Hoop Dreams

Talk about optimism Bobby Goldwater, general manager of Staples Center, is looking forward to the day when the Lakers and Clippers go head-to-head in the NBA playoffs with all the games being played at the new arena.

Staples will be the home of both teams after its completion this fall. But let’s get real. The Clippers are off to one of the worst starts in their mostly miserable history. And while the Lakers now have more wins than losses, their playoff future is still up in the air, with Del Harris having been fired as coach and the volatile Dennis Rodman having joined the team.

“I said it was a dream,” Goldwater said. “I can wait. I’m a patient guy.”