NEWSMAKERS 22 Valley Companies Make Deloitte’s Fast 50 Accounting Bob Oberstein, Byron Stock and Steve Friedenthal have established their CPA and consulting firm, Oberstein Stock and Friedenthal LLP, in Sherman Oaks. They were formerly partners with Good Swartz Brown & Berns LLP. Associations David Wood has been named executive director of the L.A./ Santa Barbara Council of the high-tech trade association AeA. Previously, Wood was director of membership development at AeA. He has also worked as a marketing representative and sales manager for Symark Software, Baarns Consulting and CompuLearn Computer Training. Awards The nominees for the 2002 Fernando Award are: Jill Banks Barad, Ruth Richter, Gloria Mogul, Sheldon I. Mende, Arthur Sweet, Dorothy Jean Jauck, Howard E. Shirley, Alex Soteras, Michael Klausman, Bill Powers, Kathleen Sterling, Mike Quiroga and Cathy Maguire. Construction PCL Construction Services has named Joseph Martino director of special projects at its Glendale Southwestern regional office. He will be responsible for client relationships and business development. Energy Capstone Turbine Corp. has promoted Hal Koyama to the position of senior vice president of sales and marketing and Jeff Willis to the position of senior vice president of engineering. Capstone announced these promotions as a result of a recent internal realignment. Finance Edward Godycki has been appointed executive vice president of e-business for Countrywide Credit Industries Inc. Most recently, Godycki was chief technology officer for Fandango Inc., where he was responsible for operations. George Steinhoff has been named senior vice president of applications at WMC Mortgage Corp., an Internet-based loan origination and servicing firm. Steinhoff, formerly vice president of group systems at WellPoint Health Systems, will oversee the company’s Internet business applications. Health Care Northridge Hospital Medical Center has appointed Larry Frame president of its Community Board. Frame has served as a senior vice president and group executive at Litton Industries. Hospitality Valerie Vollmer, director of catering for The Plug Nickel Restaurant in Westlake Village, has been elected first vice president of the National Association of Catering Executives. Vollmer serves on the local chapter board of the association and most recently was a regional vice president. Software Development Novantus Corp. has named Ray Ashton its chief executive officer and president. Ashton most recently served as the COO at Anabas Inc., a Silicon Valley software company. Previously, Ashton was a business development executive with Nortel Networks. Technology ValueClick Inc. announced that Catherine McConville has joined its media division as director of Western sales. McConville was formerly sales director at SkyGo Inc. Bill Todd and Dan Desmet of ValueClick Media have been promoted to lead sales efforts for the East Coast sales team. Telecommunications Alcatel Enterprise Networking has named Tom Eggemeier vice president of channel development for its North America enterprise business, based in Calabasas. Eggemeier was most recently with Enterasys. Alcatel’s Enterprise Networking division provides IP-based communications switches, security appliances and IP telephony applications. 22 Valley Companies Make Deloitte’s Fast 50 The following are San Fernando Valley-area technology companies named to the Los Angeles Technology Fast 50 list of fastest-growing companies compiled by Deloitte & Touche LLP. The final ranking will be announced at a Sept. 10 awards dinner at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. – BioSource International Inc. (Camarillo) – Capstone Turbine Corp. (Chatsworth) – DCH Technology Inc. (Valencia) – Digital Insight Corp. (Calabasas) – eLabor Inc. (Camarillo) – Ixia * (Calabasas) – Line 6 Inc. (Agoura Hills) – Medi.com (Thousand Oaks) – MRV Communications Inc. (Chatsworth) – NetSol Technologies Inc. (Calabasas) – Nomadix Inc. * (Westlake Village) – North American Scientific Inc. (Chatsworth) – Optical Communication Products Inc. (Chatsworth) – Power-One Inc. (Camarillo) – Qualstar Corp. (Simi Valley) – Semtech Corp. (Camarillo) – Soligen Technologies Inc. (Northridge) – Sonic Desktop Software Inc. (Northridge) – Tekelec (Calabasas) – THQ Inc. (Calabasas Hills) – ValueClick Inc. * (Westlake Village) – Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (Camarillo) * Has been designated a Rising Star

Bankruptcies Living Center of Ojai, Inc.; Acacias Care Center (bed and nursing care facility) 7445 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Suite 100, Canoga Park 91303 Chapter: 11 Assets: N/A Debts: $1,217,439 Doc#SV02-16445-AG File-Date: 07/18/02 Attorney: Peter Steinberg 310-451-9714 Corporate Consulting Services Ltd. (business type n/a) 31847 Broad Beach Drive, Malibu 90265 Chapter: 11 Assets: N/A Debts: N/A Doc#SV02-16556-RR File-Date: 07/22/02 Attorney: No outside representation. AquaPlus, Inc. (assemble water filter systems) 18376 Ventura Blvd., #30,Tarzana 91356 Chapter: 7 Assets: $1,100 Debts: $1,368,818 Doc#SV02-16573-KL File-Date: 07/23/02 Attorney: Patrick McKenna 805-527-8335 Dewey P. Hubert DBA: Dewey Saws, Inc.; AKA: Dewey Saws (business type n/a) 4731 Adam Road, Simi Valley 93065 Chapter: 7 Assets: $210,988 Debts: $184,562 Doc#SV02-16570-AG File-Date: 07/23/02 Attorney: James Studer 805-582-9191 Stamps Aplification, Inc. (electronic mfg./sales/repairs) 7149 Fair Ave., North Hollywood 91605 Chapter: 7 Assets: $3,358 Debts: $65,531 Doc#SV02-16585-KL File-Date: 07/23/02 Attorney: David Hagen 818-992-1940 Excel Center DBA: Comerica Enterprise (business type n/a) 1817 E. Newgrove St., Lancaster 93535 Chapter: 7 Assets: N/A Debts: N/A Doc#SV02-16288-AG File-Date: 07/11/02 Attorney: No outside representation.

VALLEY FORUM: A Living Wage in a New City? Along with a number of cities, Los Angeles some years ago adopted a living wage ordinance, compelling companies that do business with the city to pay its employees an amount above and beyond the federal minimum wage. It is certainly one issue a new Valley city council could take up and either agree to continue or reject. So, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal asks: Should a new Valley city adopt a living wage ordinance similar to the one already in effect in Los Angeles? Zane Averbach Partner Goldfarb, Sturman & Averbach Encino A living wage ordinance would be worthy of the consideration of a new Valley city council. The council would have to consider the effect on business to be sure that such an ordinance would not be overly oppressive. The council also might consider discussing the matter with neighboring municipalities, as a unilateral position may encourage businesses to move to neighboring cities. The council would also be well advised to consider exemptions from the Living Wage provisions, e. g. for students or small businesses. Larry G. Gray Vice President Spindler Engineering Corp. Van Nuys The Valley city should not adopt the living wage ordinance. This ordinance does not help business or the workers. It makes the city less competitive with neighboring cities such as Burbank, Glendale or Santa Clarita. It also makes it more difficult for entry-level workers to move into the work force, due to the higher starting salary. The living wage ordinance is one of many reasons why the Valley city will be more competitive and can provide more jobs if it is separated from the bureaucracy of the city of Los Angeles. Rosemarie Wolff President Royal Staffing Services Sherman Oaks Why would a new Valley city not want to adopt a living wage ordinance? In today’s economy the minimum wage does not support an individual, much less a family. Along with this ordinance, we must assure that the schools provide the education that will prepare a work force with the oral and written skills to enable them to perform in the working world and merit more than a living wage. Wafa Kanan President Unique Image Inc. Northridge I would vote no on the living wage ordinance. Margins on city and government projects are so small that the benefit of working with the city is erased by paying higher wages. Most employees make more than minimum, so the point is relevant only in some instances.

The Briefing THE BOSS’ MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Landlords of commercial properties have their headaches: negotiating leases through second- and sometimes third-party brokers can hold up a deal for weeks. But tenants have their challenges too, and one of the biggest is trying to negotiate leases with absentee landlords, often represented by their own layers of real estate management firms, or trusts known as REITs. As a landlord and a tenant, Sanford Paris, owner of Encino-based Paris Industrial Parks, is on both sides of the commercial real estate game every day. He owns roughly 800,000 square feet of industrial office space in the Valley. Paris spoke to reporter Jacqueline Fox about these two conflicting challenges in the commercial real estate industry, why they seem to continue and how he tries to get around the roadblocks. “Getting the landlord to discuss renewal of a lease when the building is owned by an out-of-state third party is difficult at best and, as a result, landlords lose tenants. The building I’m in has lost an entire floor of tenants in the last 18 months because of either an unwillingness or inability to directly communicate with the landlord. “The reason why they apparently don’t care is the buildings are being managed by REITS or some other entity and, as long as the market value allows them to show the asset has retained its worth on paper, the building can stay empty. I think you’ll find that a number of people on Ventura Boulevard are having the same experience and I think it’s just a terrible way to run a business. It’s no fun, I’ve got to tell you. “How I deal with it is just through a combination of persistence and patience. I’m repeatedly calling and simply waiting them out. My lease was up in July, but I’m small, so there’s less impact with regard to the uncertainty. But a large company with many employees just can’t operate efficiently on that level of uncertainty. They need to know where they’re going to be in six months. “From a landlord’s perspective, I also have to deal with third parties, starting with the parent company of the tenant who then often refers me to a broker. I have to pay the broker fee in those cases, which I add on to the rent. This system often holds up deals for weeks but many large corporations just don’t have efficient in-house real estate staffs, and if they do, they are usually understaffed and under-trained. “There’s often no way around this system of doing business, so I’m forced to play the game.”

Change of Life for Herb Makers? By SHELLY GARCIA Senior Reporter Timing could not be better for nutritional supplement manufacturers, including two local San Fernando Valley companies that have recently introduced products to relieve menopause symptoms. A just released clinical study revealed that hormone replacement therapy, a pharmaceutical treatment for menopause, carries heightened risks for heart disease, breast cancer, blood clots and strokes. The widely publicized survey results have alarmed and confused patients, and a number of doctors have already moved to stop HRT treatment. The news about HRT brings front and center nutritional supplement makers such as Natrol Inc. and Pharmavite LLC and could provide a much needed shot in the arm for an industry that has been alternately ignored by the medical community and beset by negative news reports. “For a long time, a lot of these companies that produced supplements for menopause-related issues have been trying to get the word out, but they’ve been fighting for the ear of the consumer against well-funded pharmaceutical companies,” said Patrick Rea, research director at Nutrition Business Journal in San Diego. “There’s probably companies right now reorienting products and marketing messages all the way down to store promotional materials to capture these consumers looking for alternative solutions.” Indeed, the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance, an industry trade group, has already moved to produce a video to help educate consumers to herbal supplements as an alternative to HRT. In Chatsworth, Natrol officials are looking at beefing up consumer education materials and launching a radio campaign to heighten awareness of the company’s menopause products. And at Pharmavite in Northridge, there’s a budding awareness that the latest events could provide needed support to extend product development efforts. “We have not yet had a deluge of sales guys coming to us,” said John Metz, senior product manager for Nature’s Resource, Pharmavite’s herbal supplement division. “But yesterday one of our major sales guys came to me and said we really ought to be taking advantage of this. So we could conceivably look into expanding our menopausal products.” Each year about 1.8 million women in the U.S. reach menopause. Among the symptoms they may experience are hot flashes, night sweats and bone loss. Individual symptoms vary as does intensity, but about 70 percent to 80 percent of menopausal women experience hot flashes and night sweats to some degree. HRT, a combination of estrogen and progestin, most widely distributed under the brand name Prempro from pharmaceutical maker Wyeth, has been used to alleviate these symptoms and to decrease the risk of heart disease, which rises for women who have reached menopause. About 6 million women in the U.S. take HRT, according to the National Institutes for Health. But immediately after the clinical study results were announced, a survey conducted by ImpactRx, which tracks pharmaceutical companies’ promotional efforts, found that physicians told nearly half of their patients to stop taking Prempro or to switch to another therapy. Meanwhile, herbal supplement makers have been slowly building a $250 million market in products ranging from black cohosh to red clover and soy isoflavones along with specially formulated combinations of these herbs, which have been shown to relieve many symptoms of menopause to varying degrees. According to Nutrition Business Journal, herbal supplements used to relieve symptoms of menopause grew by 6 percent in 2001 versus the prior year, compared to a 4 percent growth rate for the overall herbal supplement market. Pharmaceutical makers have been the largest players in the market. GlaxoSmithKline markets Remifemin, a product based on black cohosh, which has been widely used in Germany. Novogen, an Australian pharmaceutical company , markets Promensil, a combination of soy isoflavones and red clover. So-called nutraceutical companies have long marketed herbs like black cohosh, but recently began to formulate combinations of these herbs targeted specifically to menopausal symptoms. Last year, Natrol introduced Complete Balance Am/PM Menopause Formula and earlier this year, Pharmavite launched Soy Balance Menopause Soy Supplement in its Nature’s Resource line. But despite the apparent opportunities now available, these companies are stopping short of launching an all-out marketing assault. For one thing, they can’t afford it. “The dietary supplement industry does not have the resources to put 50,000 salespeople out there calling on each doctor’s office,” said Elliott Balbert, founder and CEO of Natrol. Then too, the industry is fighting a long history of criticism and skepticism in the press and from the medical community and confusion over dosage and potency levels. Most feel they must tread softly and carefully to overcome some of these preconceptions. Finally, physicians are not likely to provide much support, even in light of the recent news about HRT. “Most doctors are still without the knowledge to comfortably discuss herbal remedies with their patients,” said Dr. Michael Hirt, founder and director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center. “That’s important. If he or she does not know the ins and outs of that therapy, how to manage somebody, the right dosage, those are things that are taught in medical school in dealing with prescription medications. There isn’t that kind of focus (for herbal supplements). So I think a lot of patients are going to be looking for alternatives, and doctors are no more comfortable today than they were three hours before the study was released to help women make the decision.” What the nutraceutical companies can do is step up their educational efforts, and many are doing just that. Officials at Pharmavite, which expects its new menopause supplement to reach $3 million in retail sales annually, have focused their educational efforts on pharmacists and consumers. The company holds continuing education courses for health practitioners and nutritionists and it has revamped its packaging to offer more information in layman’s terms. Natrol is preparing a media kit to provide information about its menopause supplements and the company is working on a white paper to address a variety of topics from legal issues to efficacy and safety. When it’s completed, Balbert said it will be included on the company’s Web site. That’s something we weren’t considering a month ago,” he said.

3D Systems Moves Latest Acquisition Out of Austin Media & Technology by Carlos Martinez 3D Systems Corp. will close the former DTM Corp. facility in Austin, Texas that it acquired last year, and move all its operations to its home base in Valencia. CEO Brian K. Service said the closure is part of an overall reorganization of the company due to declining sales in a down economy. “We believe we have a solid business and good opportunity for long-term growth,” he said. It was unclear how many jobs would be lost as a result of the move. 3D Systems creates three-dimensional models from one-dimensional drawings or photographs as part of the development process of new products. The company acquired fellow model-maker DTM last August for an estimated $45 million after it settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Justice Department. The department had attempted to block the sale on the grounds that it would reduce competition in a sector with very few players. The only other U.S. company that competes with 3D Systems is Stratasys Inc. of Minnesota. As part of the lawsuit settlement, 3D Systems agreed to license its Rapid Prototyping technology to others who might want to compete in the market. The technology allows users to develop and create three-dimensional plastic models using lasers, scanners and computers. About 200 people work at the Austin plant, which had been home to DTM since its inception in 1997. For the quarter ending June 28, 3D Systems reported a net loss of $6 million on revenue of $28.8 million, compared to a net loss of $344,000 on revenue of $25 million during the same period last year. 3D Systems’ top customers include Apple Computer Inc., The Boeing Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG. Xircom Barred From Shipping Products A federal judge has barred Thousand Oaks-based Xircom Inc., a subsidiary of Intel Corp., from shipping its new local area networking and modem cards until a lawsuit over alleged patent infringement is resolved. Xircom officials would not comment. Santa Clara, Calif.-based 3Com Corp. filed a lawsuit last year claiming Xircom infringed on its patents when it developed a number of its new products, including RealPort and RealPort 2. The injunction, which took force on July 25, was approved after 3Com filed its motion to halt the shipping of 26 products Xircom had planned to begin distributing this summer, said Mark Michael, vice president and general counsel for 3Com. Qualstar Acquires N2Power Tape storage device maker Qualstar Corp. of Simi Valley has acquired Newbury Park-based N2Power Inc. for an undisclosed price. The privately held N2Power was founded in 1998 and designs and manufactures small power supplies for data storage units and other electronic devices. William Gervais, Qualstar president and CEO, said the acquisition will allow the company to further improve its technology and its share of the market. “Acquiring N2Power allows us to leverage the advantages inherent in their unique technology in our tape library designs,” Gervais said. The acquisition comes a week after publicly held Qualstar announced it has established a research and development center in Boulder, Colo. The new facility will allow the company to tap into that area’s growing number of high-tech engineers, said company spokesman Steve Friedberg. Qualstar, which employs about 100 people, will continue to operate a separate research and development unit at its Simi Valley headquarters, Friedberg added. For the quarter ending March 31, Qualstar reported net income of $695,000 on $8.6 million in revenue, compared to $1.3 million in net income on $11.1 million in total revenue for the same period last year. MEMGen Closes $5.7 Million in Funding Micro-device maker MEMGen Corp. of Burbank closed $5.7 million in financing last week. The round of financing was led by Partech International, a venture capital firm based in San Francisco. Others involved in the funding were Dynafund Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurveson, Chevron Technology Ventures LLC, Zone Ventures, Atherton Venture Partners LLC, Venture Law Group, Riordan & McKinzie and McDonnell 1998 Co-investing. Dave Welsh, general partner in Partech International, said the company’s cutting-edge technology was among the reasons for investing in the tiny startup. The company is named after its micro-devices, or MicroElectroMechanical Systems. “The company’s breakthrough micro-manufacturing technology, combined with its strong, experienced management, will enable MEMGen to catalyze micro-device developments in a variety of industries,” he said. MEMGen raised more than $11 million in first-round financing, with Pentech Financial Services providing $1.5 million for equipment leasing. Adam Cohen, MEMGen president and CEO, said the new financing will help move the company’s advanced technology forward. “We weren’t planning to raise additional funding at this time. Partech approached us and impressed us with its track record of turning vision into success in other emerging industries,” Cohen said. The company’s so-called E-Fab technology allows it to manufacture sophisticated miniaturized devices, or microelectromechanical systems. Cohen said the company’s goal is to develop and mass-produce three-dimensional micromachines and micro-parts. Business Journal reporter Carlos Martinez may be reached at (818) 676-1750 ext. 17 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Living Wages May Be Issue In November The Secession Question By JACQUELINE FOX Staff Reporter Let the games begin. As of Aug. 1, 97 people had filed papers to run for mayor and 14 city council seats in a proposed new Valley city, banking on passage of secession Nov. 5. Yet even with election day now exactly three months away and an Aug. 9 filing deadline looming, candidates have offered few clues about their positions on the issues a new city could face or how they will go about differentiating themselves from one another. One issue that could carry at the very least great symbolic significance in the business community is whether or not a new city council would vote to keep Los Angeles’ current living wage ordinance intact. A few hardy candidates have already pledged their “no” votes but most, including the leading candidate for mayor, are doling out the “requires more study” answer to the question. Enacted in 1997, the ordinance aims to boost pay above the federal minimum wage, now set at $6.75 an hour, at companies that contract with the city, lease city property or benefit from city funding. As with countless other issues, the status quo would remain in place for 120 days after cityhood becomes official, giving the new city council time to make decisions about what to keep, change or toss out. Some candidates vehemently opposed to the living wage ordinance perhaps see their positions appealing to a business community pushing for reforms and probably opposed to the ordinance since its inception five years ago. Meanwhile, labor unions, some of whose members benefit directly from the ordinance, already have threatened to wage a unified campaign against secession, and it’s likely the living wage issue will play a key role in it. The wage, tied to the consumer price index and boosted each July, is currently $9.52 per hour without benefits, or $8.27 with benefits. Businesses with fewer than seven employees or annual gross revenues under $350,000 are exempt. The top contender for mayor (so far there are seven), state Assemblyman Keith Richman, declined to take a position on the issue or say whether it would be part of his campaign. “I really don’t think the issue should be discussed until after a new government is in place,” Richman said. “I’m not going to take a position on it for now. I think it’s too early to talk about that.” Some registered candidates for city council seats polled recently about the ordinance say they know little or nothing about it and plan to study it further before weighing in. Others know exactly where they stand. “I fought against the living wage and I certainly wouldn’t want to bring it over to the new city,” said Paula Boland, council candidate for the Third District. She said she’s concerned that, if secession fails, the city will tax Valley residents to cover increases passed on by contractors to cover the higher wages. “Every bid the city receives from now on will demand all the companies they deal with pay the living wage,” said Boland. “Well, who do you think is going to pick up those costs? The city. And I see only one way for the city to recoup those losses: raise our taxes.” Small businesses bear the brunt of the ordinance now, according to Boland, and one example is Billingsley’s Restaurant, which leases its building at the Van Nuys Airport and Golf Course from the city of Los Angeles. Owner Drew Billingsley was told that if he wanted to renew his lease in July of this year he’d have to increase wages for all of his 22 employees. He figures the additional expense will amount to $100,000 per year, conservatively, and would force him to either raise his prices or shut his 33-year-old business down. “This restaurant only grosses about $900,000 right now,” said Billingsley. The issue has not only convinced Billingsley to support secession, his dilemma has caught the attention of about 1,000 customers who have signed petitions seeking emergency exemption from the ordinance. And, said Billingsley, many of those supporters are starting to wonder more and more if there are merits to a breakup. “Believe me, they don’t want to see this place go,” he said. “Many of my customers are seniors who’ve been coming here for years, and these workers are their friends.” And, according to Billingsley, he’s not the only tenant on the property affected by and angered over the ordinance. He said several aviators at the airport have formed an airport-based contingency to campaign for secession, although none polled on the issue would confirm that. However, in the airport’s cases, there are caveats for tenants to consider. It’s still not clear whether the airport and surrounding property would go to the new Valley city or remain part of Los Angeles. The Federal Aviation Administration would have to make that determination after Nov. 5. “It’s just way too soon to say,” said Oscar Mendoza, council candidate for the Second District. “I don’t know enough about it at this point to really say where I am. I know we have to think about workers, but we also need to find a way to bring businesses back into the city.” Richard Leyner, candidate for the 13th District council seat, however, said he already knows enough to take a position. “Would I be in favor of supporting it? Probably not,” Leyner said. “It is my opinion that the living wage ordinance is not beneficial to the city. They are excessive and I’m opposed to them.” Political strategist Richard Lichtenstein, president of Marathon Communications, said opposition to a living wage ordinance may not ultimately help Richman or other candidates. In fact, he said opponents of a breakup would benefit the most by incorporating the issue into their campaign because of their close ties with city worker unions, including the Service Employees International Local 347, one of the loudest opponents of a breakup. “I don’t think it plays out one iota for secessionists,” said Lichtenstein. “While I do think that there are probably a fair number of San Fernando Valley residents who are less sympathetic toward the unions, the fact of the matter is many union members live and vote in the San Fernando Valley. So I don’t think it would gain much traction for proponents.” Although SEIU members make more than the living wage, Lichtenstein predicted its members would lobby workers in other unions who typically make minimum wage, such as restaurant and hotel workers and janitors. “The unions are going to communicate union to union, that’s just how they work,” he said. “And they will get their message to the hotel and restaurant employees who live in the San Fernando Valley, saying we need to hang on to everything we’ve worked for. So, if you think of the numbers of workers involved, you can see how effective it would be.” Julie Butcher, general manager of the Local 347, conceded the living wage issue would be an important part of her campaign simply because “it’s the right thing to do.” “After that 120 days, the living wage goes away with all the other ordinances unless there’s affirmative action on the part of the new government,” Butcher said. “We believe it’s really popular with folks, even more so at a time when rich people are looking like they don’t care about what happens to people, and that includes workers at Billingsley’s.” Butcher said she has little faith a new Valley government would adopt the living wage, although representatives from Valley VOTE recently said they would support the city’s current rent control ordinance. Butcher said Gene LaPietra, president of Hollywood VOTE, recently told her he would demand every candidate for new Hollywood city council and mayoral seats sign a pledge to support the living wage and rent control ordinances, as well as the expansion of union jobs, if she agreed to support their cause. Butcher said she refused. “I don’t believe anything he says either,” Butcher said.

The Real Value of E-commerce – Is There Any Left? Guest Column by Orlando Burgos For many, buying via the Internet has become a way of life, a blessed event and solution to all problems but is it really all that? In effect, the Internet has isolated the users more than ever by locking them in a sphere of self-reliance and has caused a blockage to the flow of trust between human beings. Some feel a certain assurance of safety from their relationship with their computer. The net offers raw information that has a limited value and that’s OK, but as a commerce tool, I have my doubts as to its true value. I’m sure many will think of me as a heretic that should be committed, but just think about it. E-commerce provides little monetary savings; the issue of convenience and timesavings is so minimal and the chance of dangerous errors is so great that I wonder why anyone would take a chance. So where are the great deals? I tried it once with a simple purchase of DVDs from a renowned source and I needed to return some of the items. They claimed they never received these, “lost in the mail” the e-mail said, as there was never human contact. Results: no credit and, to add salt to the wound, no DVDs either. At a real store, a person would have handled the whole thing, saving me money and time. The suggestion of do-it-yourself style of service and the promise of exaggerated savings has also made a presence in my field, the travel business. Some consumers feel they can book a vacation directly on line for a fraction of the cost that a travel agent would charge and this is as far from reality as anything can get, if compared under equal terms. Not knowing how to plan adequately and safely can rapidly lead to problems that may not be of extreme danger, but that can leave you with a sour taste for the destination, just the same, as you realize you have wasted hard-earned dollars for services lacking the assumed value. On the subject of reliable information, we need to accept that this information on hotels and car rentals and such is actually the personal point of view of the seller, and just what do we think they are going to say? For certain, we must accept that every split-level orange crate of a hotel, even those with roaches the size of a Cadillac, will describe themselves as “luxurious and with the best food,” “the biggest bar located where all the action is,” “nothing but A list clients” and, of course, “the largest swimming pool,” the cars are always the cleanest and safest and yet my personal experiences say different. For instance, in a popular Central American country that we represent, a certain “Superb, Luxurious, The Finest and More ” property never mentions the awful smelling, mosquito-filled swamp right next to the place that can make your stay there a miserable experience. In another country, a nice hotel at the right price jumps at you from the screen; nowhere does it mention that visitors should stay within the confines of its grounds lest they be carted off by the local authorities by mistake, for this particular hotel is smack in the middle of a frequently raided prostitution area. So what makes the difference if dealing with a brick-and-mortar business? In a travel agency, again, a real person can give you guidance for these and many other matters that will keep you from harm’s way and, most of all, can work with you to fulfill all your travel expectations. They can give you exactly what you want and deserve at prices sometimes lower than the net and, if slightly higher, it is because of better properties and better value. An agent can protect your money, an option most times not available once you pay a foreign operator since local laws protect them. Next you may ask, what about all these companies advertised on the radio, some owned by the airlines themselves, such as Orbitz, or like Expedia and Travelocity? As the result of poor management, airlines are scrambling for our tax dollar in the way of grants to survive. I doubt they can do justice to your hard-earned leisure time. It is my personal opinion that all these are quantity and not quality suppliers definitely not geared to personal relationships, but directed to statistics. Most of the people working for these companies have less knowledge of destinations than you do, so how can they possibly be of value? Visiting a foreign land can be one of life’s most wonderful and rewarding experiences and it should be done with the purpose of bringing back terrific, rather than horrific, memories. No machine should ever be allowed to replace the human touch. Orlando Burgos is CEO of Southern Horizons Travel and Tours Inc. in North Hollywood.

Ikea Eyes West Valley, but Other Stores Come First Real Estate by Shelly Garcia Reports surfaced in recent weeks that officials of the Swedish retailer Ikea were shopping the West San Fernando Valley and, in particular, Woodland Hills, for a possible store location. While Ikea may be interested in expanding into the West San Fernando Valley sometime in the future, for now the company is just window shopping, officials said. “Our focus right now is on repositioning some of the stores we have to better cover the market and be better representative of the Ikea store,” said Pat Merwin, real estate representative for Ikea properties in the Southwestern U.S. Ikea currently operates four stores in greater Los Angeles Tustin, City of Industry, Carson and Burbank. But two of them, Tustin and City of Industry, were acquired when the retailer took over the stores of now-defunct Stor. And none of the L.A. area stores are large enough to accommodate Ikea’s full line of merchandise. Before expanding further, Ikea’s first order of business is to remodel two of its L.A. units so that they conform to its store prototype. To do that, Ikea is relocating the Tustin store to Costa Mesa and moving its City of Industry store to Covina. The relocation will allow Ikea to double the size of the stores, from about 140,0000 square feet to 300,000 square feet. Once the relocation and remodeling is completed (a facelift is currently underway in Burbank as well) next spring, Merwin said, officials will be better able to gauge their market penetration and determine whether and where other stores might prosper. “Once they’re open for a while, I think we’ll have a better idea of where our areas of expansion should be,” Merwin said. The privately held company operates 165 stores worldwide and 15 in the U.S. Its expansion has proceeded at a snail’s pace compared to publicly held U.S. retailers such as Kohls or Target, but Ikea has recently become more aggressive. “In the next 10 years, we have a goal to open five stores a year nationwide,” Merwin said. “For us, it will be the greatest number of store openings since we’ve come to the U.S.” “With that expansion continuing, we’re starting to look and be ready,” she added. “Woodland Hills is certainly an area that we can imagine a potential store in the future.” Road Kill Just months after voters nixed a proposal to build a Home Depot in Agoura Hills, city officials have put the kibosh on plans to expand Roadside Lumber & Hardware, which has operated in the area for 27 years. In June, Roadside Lumber paid $1.3 million to acquire Agoura’s old 7,500-square-foot library building. The building is next to the current Roadside Lumber site, and owner and president Mike Tuchman says the expansion could have solved several problems he’s been grappling with. Roadside, the only lumberyard supplying professional contractors in the Conejo Valley, has grown in direct proportion to home construction in the area. The expansion would have given the lumberyard more storage space as well as more parking. Tuchman says that after considerable encouragement from city planners, the Agoura Hills City Council turned down his proposal. “We were told we were a blight on the community,” Tuchman said flatly. Agoura Hills officials agree that they didn’t like the proposal. However, they point out that Roadside falls into a category known as a legal non-conforming use. Because the company predates the incorporation of the city, it is allowed to remain as it is even though the city has since adopted rules against lumberyards. “The code does not allow non-conforming uses to expand or make improvements, and he wants to do both,” said Mike Kamino, the city’s director of planning of Tuchman’s proposal. The decision is not without irony. The proposal seeks to eliminate two of the things that make Roadside Lumber a blight in the eyes of city officials. It would create enough parking so that trucks could pull into the site without blocking the roadway, and it calls for a redesign of the fa & #231;ade of the facility to conform to the design style the city has adopted. “They don’t want us to change,” Tuchman said. “They’re happy with the blighted Roadside Lumber facility.” The irony doesn’t end there. Tuchman is one of several local business owners who led the charge against Home Depot, resulting in the passage of a measure that now limits retail stores in Agoura Hills to less than 60,000 square feet. Tuchman says his opposition to Home Depot was not about size, but rather traffic and congestion, which he believes would have escalated to disastrous proportions if Home Depot were built. Regardless, he now has more in common with the developer who proposed Home Depot than we’re guessing he’d care to admit. It takes a great deal of time and money to prepare the plans needed to take a project before the city council. For Roadside as well as Home Depot developer Selleck Development Group, it’s all water under the Kanan Street bridge now. Change for Ray-Art? Is Canoga Park about to lose its little corner of Hollywood? Irvine-based Archstone Communities has filed an application with the city planning department to build 522 apartments on an 11-acre site that has been home to Ray-Art Studios, the sound stage where Fox’s “Charmed” is filmed. Robert Papazian, who, along with his production partner, James Hirsch, owns the facility, would say only that, “We’ve had some preliminary talks.” He added, “I think the real estate market is interesting.” Others say Papazian and Hirsch want to focus on their entertainment company, which has produced the television series “Nash Bridges” among other projects. Archstone Communities officials did not return phone calls. But the company filed plans for one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments on the property. Senior reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at (818) 676-1750, ext. 14 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Agoura Project OK Paves Way For 101 Repair By SHELLY GARCIA Senior Reporter The fix is in. With the approval of J.H. Snyder Co.’s plans for an $80-million, mixed use development, Agoura Hills will finally get the freeway interchange repairs the city has needed for years. Snyder’s proposal to develop about 38 acres north of the Ventura (101) Freeway along Canwood Street east of Kanan Road includes $5 million to $6 million that will be used to realign Canwood Street. The step is one of several necessary in order to widen the Kanan interchange, typically so congested it has snarled traffic in the area for years. Snyder’s proposed portion is just a fraction of the $21 million needed for the interchange repairs. Agoura Hills will throw in another $5 million of its own money for the project, allowing it to collect matching MTA funds and cover the entire project. “We couldn’t do it at this time if Snyder hadn’t come along,” said Greg Ramirez, Agoura Hills assistant city manager. “Maybe years down the road, if we were able to save up enough money.” Agoura Hills officials had hoped to generate enough revenue for the repairs from a proposed retail development anchored by Home Depot. But in March, Agoura Hills voters passed a measure that effectively blocked the Home Depot project. Instead, city officials dug into about $5 million it had set aside, much of it previously intended for recreation programs. “We’ve been evaluating different financial possibilities to finance this interchange,” Ramirez said. “At the time we approved the last budget, we had funds available and we, as a staff, recommended we set the funds aside (for the roadway improvements). By and large, this is the No. 1 project that needs to happen.” Under the terms of the agreement, Snyder will acquire the needed land and re-build Canwood Street north of its current location. The changes will eliminate the need for one of the traffic lights that have been a significant source of congestion. Snyder is also moving the utility poles underground, removing billboards and buying out and tearing down an existing Denny’s restaurant to clear the path along the new roadway. “It will make it flow a lot easier,” Ramirez said, noting that the design was developed and approved by Caltrans. City officials will solicit bids for the construction of the new off-ramps on both the northbound and southbound sides of the freeway. Agoura Hills city officials had projected annual sales tax revenues of $700,000 from a Home Depot project proposed on freeway frontage along Agoura Road by Selleck Development Group, funding it planned to use for the freeway improvements. With that as seed money, city officials hoped they could repair not only the Kanan interchange but also the Reyes Adobe interchange and still have funding available for recreation programs on their wish list. But the passage of Measure H placed a 60,000-square-foot cap on any new retail establishments. Selleck is now repositioning its development plans, and city officials had to re-think their spending priorities, using most of their nest egg for the most crucial roadway repairs. Snyder first proposed office buildings on the Canwood site about a year and a half ago. But as the office rental market began its decline, the developer repositioned the project. Oak Creek, as it is called, will be comprised of 24 townhouse-like buildings with 336 one- and two-bedroom apartments. Rather than a flat grade, the residences will be built on a hillside with walkways and gardens. Inside, each unit will have washers and dryers and other amenities. “They’re going to be very high end,” said Cliff Goldstein, partner at Snyder Co. Goldstein said it was too early to determine the leasing rates, which will depend somewhat on what happens to home prices in the coming year. Agoura Hills currently has only a handful of mostly small apartment complexes. Oak Creek will likely accommodate between 800 and 1,200 residents. “They’re providing opportunities for housing and they’re helping to pay for the interchange improvements,” said Mike Kamino, director of planning for the city of Agoura Hills. The office portion of the development will consist of two buildings totaling 85,000 square feet. Snyder officials said they will likely build the first building on a speculative basis and delay the start of construction on the second building until they have secured a major tenant. While the soft office market is somewhat troubling, the size of Oak Creek’s office segment makes it less risky, Goldstein said. “We’re building a modest amount of office space,” Goldstein said. “If you wait until times are great, then by the time you complete the project times will be bad.” Nevertheless, Goldstein said the company will focus first on the residential portion of the development and on securing restaurant tenants, because that is where the market is strongest. The company expects to begin shortly and to complete the development by September 2003.