Guess to Rehire Workers
Guess Inc. has agreed to reinstate 13 laid-off workers and to pay $113,000 in back pay to 20 other workers to settle charges that the company tried to thwart a labor-organizing campaign by illegally dismissing pro-union workers.
The settlement with the National Labor Relations Board clears a number of charges filed by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) with the NLRB. The union had charged that 13 workers were laid off in October 1997 as a result of pro-union activities, in violation of U.S. labor laws. The company argued that the workers had been dismissed for economic purposes. Most of the workers receiving back pay were laid off in August 1996; most regained their jobs under a previous settlement, but never received compensation for the pay they had lost.
As part of the settlement in which the company admitted no wrong-doing Guess also agreed to allow an NLRB representative to read a statement to employees stating that the company promises not to violate workers’ right to organize by firing, interrogating or otherwise intimidating union supporters.
Fox to Buy Stake in Kings
Continuing its drive to dominate the L.A. professional sports scene, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Group has taken steps to purchase a minority interest in the Los Angeles Kings hockey team, signing a deal for the rights to an option for 40 percent of the franchise.
The deal is the latest in a recent buying spree for Murdoch. Last month, the media mogul spent a record $311 million for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then, with its sports partner, Liberty Media Corp., Fox bought a 40 percent interest in the $300 million Staples Center sports arena, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 1999. In yet another deal, the Kings have agreed to sell Murdoch 40 percent of the team’s option to buy 25 percent of the Los Angeles Lakers.
For Fox, ownership of the teams assures valuable programming for the company’s two regional sports networks, and steps up Murdoch’s battle with Walt Disney Co. for sports cable dominance.
Meanwhile, Staples Center officials announced that the Kings, the Lakers and the Clippers would move to the new sports complex, making it the first arena in the country to house three professional sports franchises.
Bid Launched for Democratic Convention
A group of local business leaders has launched a campaign to bring the Democratic National Convention to Los Angeles in the year 2000.
In addition to bringing $137 million in revenue to the city, the convention would provide a valuable showcase for Los Angeles, said officials of the group, dubbed L.A. Convention 2000.
Other cities competing include Miami, Detroit and Philadelphia. The convention is expected to cost the host city $27 million.
Organizers of the effort include Eli Broad, chairman and chief executive of SunAmerica Inc., David Geffen, principal of DreamWorks SKG, and William Wardlaw, partner at the investment firm Freeman Spogli & Co.
Both Wardlaw and Broad are close confidants of L.A.’s Republican Mayor Richard Riordan, who supports the effort despite his party affiliation.
Western Bancorp to Buy Bank of L.A.
Continuing an ongoing wave of California bank takeovers Western Bancorp has agreed to buy West Hollywood-based Bank of Los Angeles for about $92.5 million in stock.
Western, the Newport Beach-based parent of Santa Monica Bank and Southern California Bank, has $2.1 billion in assets and 29 branches in L.A., Orange and San Diego counties. The most recent acquisition will add $275 million in assets and six branches.
Over the past several years, Western has cobbled five community banks into a Southern California network.
Asian Imports Surge at L.A. Ports
The long-awaited flood of imports from Asia finally arrived in March, as shipments from that region surged through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
At the Port of L.A., imports from the region were up more than 39 percent in March compared with the same period last year. At the neighboring Port of Long Beach, such shipments were up more than 34 percent.
The numbers reflect the steep drop in value of Asian currencies against the U.S. dollar, which has driven down the price of imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and other Asian nations.
The currency crisis also is eroding demand for U.S.-made goods overseas. At the Port of Long Beach, for example, exports dropped 16.9 percent in March compared with the same period last year; and the volume of empty containers being sent overseas jumped 82.2 percent.
In Los Angeles, exports fell 8.2 percent and the number of empty containers rose 25 percent.
Valley Home Sales Rise
The sale of single-family homes in the San Fernando Valley jumped more than 27 percent in March, compared with the same period last year the best March sales total since 1989, according to Southland Regional Association of Realtors.
A total of 1,124 single-family Valley homes closed escrow in March, an increase of 27.4 percent over a year ago and 42.5 percent higher than February 1998. The March median resale price for a single-family Valley home was $180,000, up 12.5 percent from last year.
Realtors say they expect the spring buying season to be even hotter. The number of open escrows, considered to be a reliable gauge of future sales, jumped to a record high in March. A total of 1,818 escrows were open at the end of March, up 21 percent from February and more than 36 percent from a year earlier.
Home Improvement Chain Moves West
In a move that turns up the heat on the region’s already scorching home-improvement market, Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse is planning a $1.5 billion push to open 100 new stores in the Western United States, most of them in Southern California, by late 1999.
The North Carolina-based retailer is considered the nation’s second-largest chain of home-and-garden stores, with 1997 sales of $10.1 billion. The company, which has 449 stores in 26 states, hopes to grab a slice of Southern California’s estimated $12.6 billion home improvement market.
Lowe’s is entering an arena dominated by Home Depot and HomeBase, the state’s two largest home-improvement chains. Atlanta-based Home Depot operates 95 stores in Southern California and plans to add 61 new outlets statewide over the next three years. HomeBase has 48 California stores.
Hilton Buys Two Hotels
Beverly Hills-based Hilton Hotels Corp. announced two major hotel acquisitions last week and reported a healthy gain in quarterly net income.
Hilton has acquired the DFW Lakes Hilton Executive Conference Center in Dallas and the Westin Hotel Charlotte in Charlotte, N.C. Both hotels were purchased for about $170 million from a pension account managed by ERE Yarmouth Inc.
Meanwhile, Hilton reported net income for the first quarter ended March 31 of $77 million, compared with $68 million during the same period last year, a 12 percent increase.
Compiled by Larry Kanter
