Foothill Retail Corridor

Frozen Ropes Glendora opened October 17 at 2244 E Route 66 in the former NAPA Auto Parts store that has been vacant for many years. The property is owned by the Glendora Redevelopment Agency, and the plan is to someday build a Class A office building on the property similar to the ones just west of the property.

Frozen Ropes (www.FrozenRopes.com) is a national franchise. The Glendora location offers batting cages, classes on hitting, fielding, pitching, strength and conditioning, and clothing. The facility has nine hitting/pitching tunnels according to their Facebook page  (http://www.facebook.com/FrozenRopesGlendora). Good luck!

The shell of the Ulta Beauty cosmetics store adjacent to Kohls is complete and workers are building out the interior. Ulta is now accepting applications on their website (www.Ulta.com) for employment at their latest location in Glendora at 1229 S Lone Hill.

Ulta describes themselves on their website:

We were founded in 1990 as a discount beauty retailer at a time when prestige, mass and salon products were sold through distinct channels—department stores for prestige products, drug stores and mass merchandisers for mass products, and salons and authorized retail outlets for professional hair care products. After extensive research, we recognized an opportunity to better satisfy how a woman wanted to shop for beauty products, which led to what we believe to be our unique combination of beauty superstore and specialty store attributes. We believe our strategy provides us with the competitive advantages that have contributed to our strong financial performance.

Today, ULTA is the largest beauty retailer that provides one-stop shopping for prestige, mass and salon products and salon services in the United States. We focus on providing
affordable indulgence to our customers by combining the product breadth, value and convenience of a beauty superstore with the distinctive environment and experience of a specialty retailer.

The new Glendora store joins their other nearby locations in Chino, Upland and Pasadena.

Under Construction

This month’s entry focuses on the closures and layoffs of just Los Angeles County, rather than including nearby areas such as Chino or neighboring Orange County cities, simply because the list is growing too large.

What I find interesting in this list is the number of medical jobs being eliminated (City of Hope 185 employees and Antelope Valley Hospital 45 employees). Supposedly medical jobs are one of the growth industries. Not surprising, aerospace is taking another hit, with Ball (120), JPL (33) and Northrup (75) eliminating a total of 228 positions. With budget cutbacks and aerospace moving out of California, I think this trend will continue.

The Glendora City Council approved the expansion of the Wal-Mart located at 1950 Auto Centre Drive from its current 125,890 square foot building by an additional 29,925 square feet. The building has an excellent location at Auto Center Drive and Lone Hill, with visibility from Interstate 210 Freeway.

Walmart plans to expand their grocery selection with the additional space. An extra lane will be added to the northbound Lone Hill lanes, making it three lanes.

No timetable has been announced.

Commercial real estate information giant Loopnet is moving from their current headquarters on East Huntington Drive in Monrovia to 2100 E Route 66 in Glendora, home of America’s Christian Credit Union (ACCU). ACCU occupies the first floor of the two story building and Loopnet will occupy the second floor consisting of about 38,590 square feet.

Loopnet (www.Loopnet.com) has one of the most frequently visited commercial real estate portals, with over 6 million unique visitors quarterly. Loopnet will move about 80 employees from their current location at the northwest corner of South Myrtle Avenue and West Huntington Drive to the new location. Loopnet signed a seven year lease and is due to take occupancy in June. A spokesman for Loopnet indicated that in their current location that had employees scattered on two floors and parking was difficult. Their new location provides ample parking and all employees on one floor.

Commercial real estate information giant Loopnet is moving from their current headquarters on East Huntington Drive in Monrovia to 2100 E Route 66 in Glendora, home of America’s Christian Credit Union (ACCU). ACCU occupies the first floor of the two story building and Loopnet will occupy the second floor consisting of about 38,590 square feet.

Loopnet (www.Loopnet.com) has one of the most frequently visited commercial real estate portals, with over 6 million unique visitors quarterly. Loopnet will move about 80 employees from their current location at the northwest corner of South Myrtle Avenue and West Huntington Drive to the new location. Loopnet signed a seven year lease and is due to take occupancy in June. A spokesman for Loopnet indicated that in their current location that had employees scattered on two floors and parking was difficult. Their new location provides ample parking and all employees on one floor.

In my previous post I listed Los Angeles regional closures and layoffs. While that post indicates a Los Angeles region that is still suffering major job losses, a closer look at the cities that comprise the Foothill Retail Corridor (“FRC”) presents a healthier job situation overall, but with a wide disparity within the FRC communities.

Comparatively, the FRC has a lower unemployment rate (9.3%) than Los Angeles County (13.4%) and California (12.8%), but is closer to the national average of 9.7%. However, the cities that comprise the FRC range from a very low 4.1% in Sierra Madre to a high of 14.5% in Azusa.

Please note that these numbers are from the government and they may not add due to rounding. And, I have no idea how the city of Bradbury can have an employment base of 500 with all 500 employed and still achieve an unemployment rate of 8.1%! As they say, close enough for government work.

Monthly Labor Force Data - July 2010

CDP is “Census Designated Place” – a recognized community that was unincorporated at the time of the 2000 Census.

Source: California Economic Development Department

The Citrus Valley Association of Realtors has officially moved into their beautiful new facility at 504 E. Route 66 in Glendora. CVAR serves from Azusa to Rancho Cucamonga to the east along the foothills, and from approximately South El Monte to Chino Hills and Montclair along the south. CVAR is the local arm of the National Association of Realtors which is a trade organization and advocacygroup dedicated to the thousands who work in real estate.

According to one employee, the Citrus Valley Association of Realtors is scheduled to move into this new location in Glendora on the south side of the 500 block of Route 66 sometime in June or July.  They are currently located in the San Dimas Station – North shopping center at the intersection of Bonita and Arrow Highway.