Guess Inc. has entered into a joint agreement with Grupo Axo, a Mexican company that has facilitated south-of-the-border expansion of internationally known brands such as Coach, DKNY and Tommy Hilfiger.

The majority-owned joint venture is for the manufacture, distribution and retail sale of Guess products in Mexico. Guess opened a Mexico City store in May under this agreement and a second store is slated for Cancun next July.

“The formation of our new Mexican joint venture is another step forward in our international expansion,” said Co-Chairman Paul Marciano of Guess. “We have experienced incredible success with Guess in Canada, which also started out as a joint venture in 1994, and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Guess and one of our best performing regions. We hope to achieve similar success with our joint venture partners in Mexico.”

Guess has had an impressive year. An overhaul has made the brand a first stop at the mall, and higher-margin sales in Europe have given revenues a boost.

Company stock is up 150 percent over this time last year. The price has steadily risen from about $20 last summer to roughly $50 last week. Second-quarter net income more than tripled to $14.7 million, while sales were up 30 percent to $231 million. European sales more than doubled to $22.8 million.

Not surprisingly, Grupo Axo has great expectations for its new partner. Grupo Co-Chief Executive Andres Gomez said the company expects to position Guess as one of the country’s top fashion brands during the first year of their joint venture.

Fat Chance


In New York, land of the quarter-pie pizza slice and Sunday dim sum, health officials made national headlines last week with their unanimous vote to prohibit the city’s 20,000 restaurants from serving food with more than a tiny amount of trans fat.

In Los Angeles, land of brown rice sushi, colon cleanses and fad diets, the mood was characteristically blas & #233;. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services said that there is no similar push, and that there has been no discussion of such a measure.

Chicago, known for corner pubs and its array of surprising sausage and cheese amalgamations, is considering a similar ordinance that would affect restaurants with $20 million or less in revenues.

These laws would pertain to every restaurant (yes, McDonald’s and Cheesecake Factory, too), meaning foods like bread, cake, chips and salad dressing will come off menus or face serious recipe revamps.

The average American eats about 6 grams of trans fat each day, but a large order of fries contains as much as 8 grams of trans fat.

Trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil. Hydrogenation increases shelf life and flavor stability, making it attractive to packaged snack makers and restaurants. Trans fat raises dangerous cholesterol and increases risk of congestive heart disease.

Frozen Frenzy


Los Angeles’ obsession with Pinkberry, which is opening a preposterous 30 locations in the region this year, has ironically managed to obscure it, but frozen yogurt is back.

The Pinkberry obsession, rhapsodized as “the craze that launched 1,000 parking tickets,” a reference to the traffic crush created by the phenomenal success of the company’s Larchmont location, may be about to get its first test.

Kiwiberri, which recently opened in a strip mall across from the Beverly Center, is also enjoying early popularity with a similar style, green tea flavor and fruit emphasis.

Meanwhile, Lickity Split Caf & #233; and Frozen Custard Factory opened a flagship store adjacent to the Egyptian Theater about a year ago, the third site to open since 2003. Co-founder Bruce Brown’s first licensed store will open in Westwood Village before the end of the year, with more expected to follow. The Lickity Split product is frozen custard, which has an egg yolk base and 30 percent less fat, sugar and salt that most premium ice creams. Atkins Diet devotees love it, but the product may have more fat than frozen yogurt.

Kosher palates won’t have to wait much longer, either. A Matter of Taste Inc.’s Tasti D-Lite will open a Los Angeles location by mid-2007, according to a company spokesperson.

Staff reporter Emily Bryson York can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 235, or at [email protected]