Conejo Valley Thousand Oaks Another high-end, luxury car will join the more than 25 dealerships at the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall. O’Gara Coach Co. of Beverly Hills, whichalready operates Bentley and Rolls-Royce dealerships at the mall, is taking on Maserati, a nameplate owned by Italian automaker Fiat S.p.a. Maserati sells models ranging in cost from about $100,000 to $200,000, and has announced several new designs, including the new Quattroporte V8, the fastest four-door the company has ever produced. O’Gara just opened its Bentley and Rolls dealerships in December and will show off the Maseratis in a 3,500-square-foot showroom to be completed in August. Camarillo Power-One Inc., a manufacturer of solar equipment, has entered into a partnership with Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp. The two companies are focusing on the research and development of utility-scale energy storage systems. Power-One will use Panasonic’s lithium-ion batteries and systems to enhance the solar power converters it produces. The systems will be sold for residential and commercial use in the U.S. and Europe and non-residential use in Japan. Simi Valley Simi Valley Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened its second store in Simi Valley last month. The 75,000-square-foot location in the Sycamore Square Shopping Center filled a vacancy left by Mervyn’s when the company closed all its stores three years ago. The new store employs about 175 workers and carries groceries. The Bentonville, Ark. company already has another store at 255 Cochran St., and city officials have said that the retailer is eyeing a third location in the Santa Susana Plaza for a smaller Neighborhood Market grocery store. San Fernando Valley Burbank Home furnishings retailer Inter Ikea Systems B.V. has received approval from Burbank to sell a 6.4-acre lot downtown where it has a store, bringing the opening of a store twice as large one step closer. The city’s Successor Agency Oversight Board, created to dispose of redevelopment properties, approved the $1.3 million sale of the 600 San Fernando Road property to Crown Realty and Development Inc. of Irvine, owner of the nearby Burbank Town Center mall. The sale still has to be approved by the state Department of Finance. Ikea would like to open its new 470,000-square-foot store in 2016 less than a mile away on San Fernando Road just south of downtown. Umami Co. has announced it will open its second Umami Burger location in the Valley on Riverside Drive in Burbank. The Los Angeles chain will fill the vacancy left by Papoo’s Hot Dog Show in the first half of this year. The 100-seat Umami Burger will serve its usual array of burgers and hot dogs, plus breakfast and organic milkshakes. It also plans to have a beer and wine license and offer catering to nearby film studios. It has another Valley location in Studio City. Van Nuys The North Valley Occupational Center Aviation Center, which trains students in aviation mechanics, has received a $100,000 donation. The school has been facing closure after 40 years at the Van Nuys Airport because of Los Angeles Unified School District budget cuts and a rent increase. Si Robin and Betty Robin, owners of Sensor Systems Inc. in Chatsworth, made the contribution, which should keep the school open another year while a new lease with Los Angeles World Airports can be negotiated. Sensor Systems is the largest aircraft antenna manufacturer in the U.S. West Hills AMC Theatres will occupy the soon-to-be vacated Laemmle Theatres Inc. multiplex at the Fallbrook Center mall. AMC, which operates 28 L.A.-area locations, plans to renovate the theaters, install stadium seating and expand concessions. The Atlanta company will take over the lease March 1 and expects showings to begin a few days later. Laemmle, a Los Angeles-based chain, announced its Feb. 27 departure last month after lease negotiations with mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. of Chicago stalled. The seven-screen multiplex was operated by Laemmle for 11 years. Around the Valleys To be considered for publication, submissions should be emailed to: [email protected]. If you do not receive a response in a timely manner, call (818) 316-3123.
Around the Valleys
