Trammell Crow buys Los Angeles River development site

Developer Trammell Crow Co. has agreed to buy a once-controversial site along the Los Angeles River near downtown Los Angeles with the intention of turning it into a manufacturing center for technology businesses.

Trammell Crow said it would pay $15.4 million to the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency for 20 acres of land at Santa Fe Avenue and Washington Boulevard. The deal is contingent on a decision from the state Supreme Court expected by January on budget legislation that sharply limited the agency’s functions.

The Cleantech Manufacturing Center project would create 300,000 square feet of industrial and office space to house about 200 workers and would be the southern anchor of a planned technology corridor along the river, said David Bloom of the CRA.

The top 30 feet of soil at the site has been cleared of contaminants left by generations of industrial use involving train maintenance and bus manufacturing, said Brad Cox, a senior managing director at Trammell Crow. Work could begin by the end of 2012 while further pollution abatement continued, he said.

“There are just not a lot of large parcels available in the downtown-adjacent area, and this is a chance for us to deliver a state-of-the-art product to attract clean-tech tenants,” Cox said.

Earlier plans to reuse the site decades ago included a prison and a toxic waste incinerator, but neighborhood opposition thwarted those proposals.

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Photo: Redevelopment official Cecilia Estalano, left, and city planner Claire J. Bowin look over the clean technology corridor plan on the Los Angeles River in 2009. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Construction spending and manufacturing growing -- slightly

Construction spending and manufacturing activity are both growing, though not by much, according to two reports Tuesday.

Builders in the U.S. spent at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $787.2 billion in September, up 0.2% from August in the second-straight monthly increase, according to the Commerce Department.

Private construction efforts used up $501.8 billion, with spending on residential buildings jumping 0.9% to $228.3 billion. Public construction, such as for new school structures, slumped 0.6% to $285.4 billion.

A separate report showed that the U.S. manufacturing sector has been expanding for 27 months straight, with an index of national factory activity settling at 50.8 in October, according to the Institute for Supply Management.

But the rate of growth slowed from 51.6 in September. Any level above 50 represents expansion, while an index below 50 shows contraction.

New orders are up after three months of tightening, to 52.4 from 49.6 in September. Though categories such as apparel and plastics are down, factory activity in computer and electronic products as well as food and beverage goods is increasing.

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Photo: Ross D. Franklin / AP Photo

Oreck ads falsely claim vacuums killed flu, lawsuit says [Updated]

Oreck Corp. claims to build a better vacuum. But the company went too far when it said its Halo vacuum and some of its air purifiers killed virtually all germs, bacteria and viruses, including the flu virus, according to a consumer lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

The lawsuit lists two plaintiffs, Roxy Edge of Los Angeles and Linda Gonzalez of Broome County, N.Y., and seeks certification as a class action. The lawsuit accuses Oreck of falsely claiming in television and print advertisements that the Halo vacuum killed “up to 99.9%” of germs and making similar false claims about its ProShield air purifier.

“Defendants’ claims are not adequately supported by credible, scientific testing or other substantiation and are not true,” the lawsuit alleged.

Oreck did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[Updated at 6:43 p.m.: Oreck Corp. spokesman John Van Mol issued a statement that said the company "does not believe there is any merit to the plaintiffs' attorneys’ case and it intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit."]

In May, the company agreed to pay $750,000 to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that made similar allegations.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeks damages in excess of $5 million.

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Photo: Oreck Corp. ad for its Halo vacuum. Credit: ConsumerReports.org

Oreck ads falsely claim vacuums killed flu, lawsuit says

Oreck Corp. claims to build a better vacuum. But the company went too far when it said its Halo vacuum and some of its air purifiers killed virtually all germs, bacteria and viruses, including the flu virus, according to a consumer lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

The lawsuit lists two plaintiffs, Roxy Edge of Los Angeles and Linda Gonzalez of Broome County, N.Y., and seeks certification as a class action. The lawsuit accuses Oreck of falsely claiming in television and print advertisements that the Halo vacuum killed “up to 99.9%” of germs and making similar false claims about its ProShield air purifier.

“Defendants’ claims are not adequately supported by credible, scientific testing or other substantiation and are not true,” the lawsuit alleged.

Oreck did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In May, the company agreed to pay $750,000 to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that made similar allegations.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeks damages in excess of $5 million.

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Photo: Oreck Corp. ad for its Halo vacuum. Credit: ConsumerReports.org

Retail roundup: Mattel vs. MGA, Versace for H&M, salad recall

-- A federal judge granted Mattel's request to dismiss rival MGA Entertainment's antitrust suit against the toy giant. The two Southern California toy makers have been embroiled in a years-long dispute over ownership of the Bratz doll line and have accused each other of stealing trade secrets.

In the separate Bratz case, a Santa Ana jury in April sided with MGA; U.S. District Judge David O. Carter later awarded MGA more than $309 million in damages, fees and other costs. Mattel has filed a notice to appeal in that case.

In throwing out MGA's antitrust lawsuit this week, which the toy maker filed alleging anti-competitive practices by Mattel, Carter said the case was too similar to prior litigation, according to the Associated Press. 

-- H&M, which announced earlier this year that it would partner with Versace for its next designer collection, this week released the line's lookbook and other details.

The collection will be available in more than 300 stores next month and will focus mostly on apparel for men and women. The trendy fast-fashion retailer also said that the line would be the first time an H&M designer collaboration would include homeware pieces. 

"Dominated by colour, print and cut, the brand’s creative director Donatella Versace has gone back to the archives to bring some Versace classics to a whole new audience," H&M said in a statement. "Iconic dresses are the focus of the women’s collection, while menswear is centered on sharp tailoring."

My colleague Booth Moore from our Image section has her take on the collection here, as well as more photos. 

-- Taylor Farms Retail Inc. is voluntarily recalling 3,265 cases of salad blends that could be contaminated with salmonella after a random test conducted on a finished package of spinach by the State of Washington Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

The products were distributed in several states including California, Arizona and Colorado and sold in various supermarkets. There have been no reported illnesses attributed to the recalled items, the agency said.

Customers who have purchased the products, listed here, are urged to not consume the products and should dispose of them. 

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Top photo: MGA's Bratz doll line. Credit: Christina House / For The Times. Bottom photo: Donatella Versace, seated, at a model fitting for the upcoming Versace for H&M collection. Credit: H&M

Mattel reports solid third-quarter earnings

Mattel Inc. reported a 6.2% rise in profit and a 9% increase in sales for the third quarter thanks to strong demand for Barbie, other doll lines and "Cars 2"-related toys.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the nation's largest toymaker, based in El Segundo, reported profit of $300.8 million, or 86 cents a share, compared with $283.3 million, or 77 cents, in the year-earlier quarter.

"Not only have we continued to benefit from the strength of our core brands, but this year's big entertainment property, 'Cars 2,' is also fueling momentum," said Robert A. Eckert, Mattel's chief executive.

Heading into the holiday season, the most important time of the year for the toy industry, Eckert said the company was "keenly focused" on delivering growth in its core brands and entertainment properties, expanding its international footprint and building its newest franchise, the Monster High doll line.

Sales for the quarter were $2 billion, up 9% compared with $1.83 billion for the same quarter last year. Sales rose 6% in the U.S. and 13% in international markets, the company said.

Sales were up 17% for Barbie; 23% for Mattel's "other girls brands" such as Disney Princess and Monster High; and 14% for its entertainment business, which includes games, puzzles and "Cars 2" merchandise.

Mattel's Fisher-Price Brands unit had softer sales, rising 1% to $748.9 million.

Shares of Mattel were down less than 1% to $27.51 at 10:45 a.m. Pacific time.

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-- Andrea Chang

Photo: A Barbie ad in New York. Credit: Bloomberg

Job Losses Across the Developed World

CATHERINE RAMPELL

Dollars to doughnuts.

Across the developed world, the biggest job losses in the 2008-9 downturn were in mining, manufacturing and utilities, according to new data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Dollars to doughnuts.

Here’s a chart showing job losses and gains by sector for a selection of developed countries. Bars above the horizontal axis show industries that added jobs, and bars below the axis show industries that lost jobs. The red bars refer to jobs lost in mining, manufacturing and utilities:

Across the entire O.E.C.D., job losses in this sector equaled 35.3 percent of total employment changes in 2008 and 2009.

The biggest gains, by contrast, were in community, personal and social services (the light blue bars).

This is probably no surprise to people who have been following job trends in the United States, where the health industry has been going gangbusters in both good and bad economies. But actually growth across the broader sector has been smaller in the United States than elsewhere in the developed world.

In the United States, growth in community, personal and social services totaled 8.2 percent of overall employment changes in 2008-9, whereas across all O.E.C.D. member countries this supersector added jobs that equaled 18.3 percent of total job changes during the same period.

Simmons to open Victorville furniture factory, start hiring in October

Hiring and manufacturing will begin shortly at a new plant in Victorville, where Simmons sofas and other home furnishings will be made.

Simmons’ parent company, United Furniture Industries, has signed a lease for more than 500,000 square feet of space at the Southern California Logistics Centre, a former military base near U.S. 395 and the 15 Freeway that is being turned into a freight transportation hub.

The price of the nine-year lease was not disclosed, but real estate experts familiar with San Bernardino County industrial properties valued the deal at about $16 million.

United Furniture, which is based in Okolona, Miss., said the Victorville manufacturing and distribution center will serve Southern California and other markets in the West.

The company will hire more than 100 workers starting in October and expand the staff to about 400 within the next three or four years, spokesman Bob Cottam said. Recruitment will begin with a local job fair next month.

“UFI has a history of making every effort possible to procure goods and services in the local communities where we have a manufacturing presence,” Cottam said. “We are excited about the prospects for our success in the Western United States and this new facility in the California High Desert.”

United Furniture’s other manufacturing centers are in Mississippi and North Carolina. Southern California Logistics Centre, which includes airplane runways and rail connections, is being developed on 2,500 acres of the former George Air Force Base by landlord Stirling Capital Investments.

Other businesses there include Rubbermaid, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, FedEx, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and M&M/Mars.

Texas-based Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. opened a plant there last year to bottle beverages such as 7UP, A&W root beer, Sunkist orange soda and Hawaiian Punch.

After United Furniture moves in, Victorville’s industrial property vacancy rate will fall to 7%, a big drop from more than 30% in early 2009, according to brokerage Cushman & Wakefield.

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Photo: United Furniture Industries future home in Victorville.  Credit: Stirling Capital Investments

Jakks Pacific receives takeover bid from Oaktree Capital

Jakks Pacific Inc., the Malibu toy maker, has received a $544-million takeover bid from Oaktree Capital Management after the Los Angeles buyout firm failed to work out a friendly deal with the company.

In a letter to Jakks' board Tuesday, Oaktree made an offer to take Jakks private for $20 a share in cash, a 25% premium on the toy maker's closing stock price of $16 that day. The company said it had been trying to work out a deal with the company since March; Oaktree Funds owns about 4.9% of Jakks already, according to the Associated Press.

Jakks' Chief Executive Stephen Berman responded to the investment firm in a letter Wednesday, saying the company would "carefully consider your indication of interest ... and will continue to act in the best interests of the company and its shareholders."

Jakks, one of the top five U.S. toy companies, designs and markets action figures, electronics, dolls, costumes and stuffed animals and is a licensee of major brands including Disney, Nickelodeon, Cabbage Patch Kids, Hello Kitty and Pokemon. It was founded in 1995 and went public a year later.

In an interview with The Times last week, Chief Financial Officer Joel Bennett said the company had 725 employees, 400 of them in the U.S. Jakks last year reported revenue of $748 million. 

A call to a Jakks spokeswoman was not returned early Wednesday. Shares of Jakks rose $3.78, or 23.6%, to $19.78 at 9 a.m. Pacific time.

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Podcast: The Economy, Manufacturing and Commercialized College Life

The economy has been slowing and unemployment in the United States is stuck at 9.1 percent. President Obama has come up with a program that he says will help.

In a speech on Thursday, he offered a $447 billion package of tax cuts and spending programs that received a lukewarm reception from Republicans in Congress. The total of fiscal stimulus items was bigger than expected, but it’s not clear how much of it will be enacted, Floyd Norris says in the new Weekend Business podcast.

The Federal Reserve is contemplating action of its own, deriving inspiration from an old song by Chubby Checker. Among the options being considered to stimulate the economy is a variation on a 1961 Fed program known as Operation Twist. As I write in the Strategies column in Sunday Business, and as we discuss in the podcast, the Fed might twist the composition of its own bond portfolio to lower longer-term interest rates. New research suggests that such an effort might be effective, though its impact could be dwarfed by other influences on financial markets.

In a separate conversation in the podcast, Greg Mankiw, the Harvard economics professor, analyzes the economy’s problems and suggests a long-term solution: stoking the “animal spirits” of business to increase investment spending. This is the focus of his Economic View column in Sunday Business.

And Louis Uchitelle discusses the role of government in manufacturing, the subject of his cover article in Sunday Business. The manufacturing sector is in relative decline in the United States, he says, and isn’t likely to recover without more government help.

The increasing commercialization of college life is the focus of a Sunday Business cover article by Natasha Singer. In a conversation with David Gillen, she says brand marketing on campus has grown in scope and intensity. Along with traditional college colors, student T-shirts have sometimes been emblazoned with corporate logos.

You can find specific segments of the podcast at these junctures: Floyd Norris and Operation Twist (33:31); news summary (25:03); Natasha Singer (22:58); Louis Uchitelle (14:59); Greg Mankiw (7:07); the week ahead (1:43).

As articles discussed in the podcast are published during the weekend, links will be added to this post.

You can download the program by subscribing from The New York Times’s podcast page or directly from iTunes.

California solar panel manufacturer ceases operations

The California solar panel manufacturer that received a high profile $535 million Energy Department loan guarantee announced today that it was ceasing operations, laying off 1,100 workers and will file for bankruptcy in the coming days.

Fremont-based Solyndra said that it had been rocked by stifling global economic conditions and a slow recovery from the great recession. It had also faced heavy competition from Chinese firms that were undercutting it on costs.

The company's website had not been updated to reflect the development. A terse voice mail announcement on one of Solyndra's contact information telephones said only the following: "Solyndra announced today in a press release that it has ceased operations and intends to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection," advising customers on how to contact the company for further information.

It was quite a fall from late May 2010, when the company hosted the president on a factory tour. Company officials announced then that they expected to be adding new employees. But in July of this year, the company was being grilled on Capitol Hill by House Republicans who said that there were indications that the company was in a weak financial condition and wasn't a good choice for the loan program.

Solyndra would become the third such company to file for bankruptcy in recent days. Spectrawatt Inc. of Hopewell Junction, N.Y., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Aug. 19. Evergreen Solar Inc. of Marlboro, Mass., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Aug. 15.

Experts said that solar energy was still among the most promising of all of the alternative energy sources, but they added that due diligence was necessary to pick the best companies. Other experts said that a brutal and wholesale consolidation of the industry was inevitable.

Bill Bathe, chief executive of U.S. Energy Services, a Minneapolis company that offers a portfolio of energy management services, said "there are a lot of companies competing for that space. There used to be 50 car companies in this country, but very few survived. For consumers, this is an exciting time, but for investors, this is still a very high-risk stage. You may hit a home run or be part of the experiment that delivers no pay out."

Another expert said that he was not familiar with the company, but added that it was an example of how the federal government will have to be far more careful in the future.

"There has to be a more efficient and effective way of making these kinds of decisions on loan subsidies," said Bruce Bullock, executive director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University.

Tyson Slocum, director of the energy program at Public Citizen, said that there were lessons to be learned in the way that other nations, particularly Germany and Japan, have funded their renewable energy projects.

"You can't end loan subsidies for renewable energy. That would be a disaster. What we need to do is make better decisions about the subsidies we do deploy. In countries like Germany and Japan, which have a much larger footprint in this area, subsidies have been remarkably successful," Slocum said. "We can do the same here, if we are more careful."

Photo: Ben Bierman, left, and Chris Gronet take President Obama on a tour of the Solyndra solar panel company in Fremont, Calif. Credit: Paul Chinn/Pool photo

Also: Solar power in California is still a hot topic

Also: Investing: Green technology has big growth potential

-- Ronald D. White

 

Aircraft and autos drive up demand for U.S. factory goods

Demand for aircraft and autos helped push up orders for long-lasting manufacturered items 4% in July from the month before, the U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday.

The semblance of promising news buoyed the stock market in morning trading.

In the largest increase since March, overall orders for so-called durable goods -- products expected to last at least three years -- rose to $201.5 billion.

Demand for vehicles and their parts jumped 11.5%, the largest run-up in eight years, as Japan’s recovery from the March earthquake smoothed out kinks in the production chain.

With American Airlines requesting 100 new Boeing 737 planes, nondefense aircraft orders soared 43.4%.

But, excluding the brisk pace of the transportation sector, orders rose just 0.7%. New orders for military aircraft and parts slumped more than 6% and machinery orders were down 1.5%.

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Photo: A 2011 Ford Escape compact SUV on the showroom floor. Demand for cars and car parts jumped 11.5% in July from the month before. Credit: Charles Krupa / Associated Press

AllPoints Communications building sold

Rexford Industrial, a privately held Los Angeles real estate investment firm, bought a fully leased industrial building in Santa Ana for $8.5 million.

Rexford bought a 122,000-square-foot warehouse at 3441 W. MacArthur Blvd. from the Jerry Monroe Living Trust and the Monroe Family Trust, Rexford said.

An affiliate of the sellers’, Towne Inc., will continue to rent the property. Towne Inc. is the founder of AllPoints Communications, which provides support services for direct marketers.

-- Roger Vincent

Photo: Warehouse at 3441 W. MacArthur Blvd. Credit: Rexford Industrial

Fewer exports push trade deficit to highest level since 2008

U.S. manufacturers are in a bind as fewer sales of domestic goods such as semiconductors and raw cotton caused the trade deficit to jump to its highest level since 2008, according to a Commerce Department report.

Foreign demand for U.S. goods still isn't enough of a buffer against what acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank called "a fragile time in the world economy."

Though imports shrank to $223.9 billion in June, exports of American products shriveled even more, down 2.3% to $170.9 billion -- the steepest fall in more than two years.

Fewer capital goods and industrial supplies and materials -– about $3.5 billion worth -– were shipped abroad. That includes heavy drops in exports of fuel oil, plastics, industrial engines and generators.

The trade deficit expanded 4.4% to $53.1 billion in June, from $50.8 billion in May, according to the Commerce Department. The figure is up $6.2 billion year over year to its highest point since October 2008.

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Photo: The Mearsk terminal in Long Beach. Credit: Perry C. Riddle / Los Angeles Times

Herbalife expands distribution facilities

Nutritional-supplement company Herbalife International Inc. expanded its Carson distribution facilities by 82% when it moved to a larger building owned by its longtime landlord, Watson Land Co.

Herbalife has moved from an 82,000-square-foot warehouse it had occupied since 1996 in the Watson Industrial Center into a 148,908-square-foot industrial property at 18431 Wilmington Ave. in Watson Land’s nearby Dominguez Technology Center, the landlord said.

The value of Herbalife’s 10-year lease was not disclosed, but Watson Land asks for rents in the range of 60 cents per square foot per month in Dominguez Technology Center, according to real estate data provider CoStar Group Inc.

The facility is Herbalife’s Los Angeles distribution headquarters. Watson Land has signed 1.1 million square feet of leases in 2011, the company said.

Photo:  Herbalife’s new distribution center.   Credit:  Watson Land Co.

Job growth slows and layoffs rise to 16-month high, reports say

Looking for work? Might want to try smaller businesses, which are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to job growth, according to a new report from payroll processor ADP.

Companies with fewer than 50 employees added 58,000 jobs nationwide last month, while businesses with 50 to 500 workers hired 47,000 people, according to the study. Only 9,000 new positions were at large firms with more than 500 staffers.

Small businesses have been amping up hiring for nearly two years, according to ADP.

Though 114,000 jobs were created, July’s numbers lag behind the 145,000 hires made in June. An employment report coming Friday from the Labor Department, which is expected to show even more modest figures, could throw the slowdown into sharper relief.

The service sector, including education and healthcare, grew by 121,000 jobs, according to ADP. But employment in the construction and manufacturing industries slipped.

And the stink of a sour economy loomed over layoff numbers that were also announced Wednesday. Job cuts surged to a 16-month high in July as 66,414 employees found themselves out of work, according to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Discouraging manufacturing data end brief market rally

The stock market's optimism about the debt deal reached in Washington last night proved short lived after disappointing data about American manufacturing rekindled fears of an economic slowdown. 

At midday the Dow Jones industrial average was down 73.45 points, or 0.6%, to 12,069.79.

The debt deal reached by President Obama and congressional leaders was expected to end the pessimism that has gripped the markets recently and led to six straight days of declines.

Markets in Asia rallied strongly overnight, and European stocks were initially higher as well. In early trading the Dow was up as much as 140 points.

But at 10 a.m. the markets reversed course when the Institute for Supply Management announced that its widely watched index of factory activity fell to 50.9, down from 55.3 a month ago. Manufacturing has been a central part of the recent economic recovery, and the slowdown in manufacturing -- almost to the point of contraction -- is seen as a worrying sign that U.S. economic activity is slowing down.

Other reports from around the world similarly indicated that global growth is slowing.

"With the debt ceiling drama seemingly drawing to a close, people are turning their attention back to the economic news," Paul Dales, an economist with Capital Economics, wrote to clients. "No one will like what they see."

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Photo credit: Getty Images/Stan Honda.

Wall Street Roundup: Back to reality. Poker lessons.

Gold: Trading now at $1,618 per ounce, down 0.8% from Friday. Dow Jones industrial average: Trading now at 12114.97, down 0.2% from Friday.

Back to reality. The relief over Sunday night's debt deal was brief this morning, as markets were quickly dragged back down by the latest bad economic data -- this time about weak manufacturing.

IPO redux. A number of investors have noticed that 40 days after many initial public offerings, stock prices surge again as analysts release their first reports.

Losing faith in Goldman. A British hedge fund has sold its big stake in Goldman Sachs, allegedly on fears about the bank's ability to prosper in the new regulatory regime. 

Poker lessons. One investor explains what he learned by playing poker.

-- Nathaniel Popper

Credit: EPA/Justin Lane