History Repeats Itself as Nordstrom Rack Premieres Today at Janss Marketplace

I didn't do a count, but there were easily hundreds and hundreds of folks on hand today for the grand opening of the new Nordstrom Rack at Janss Marketplace, in a space on Hillcrest Drive previously occupied by Sears (which now occupies less space). It was pretty crazy, yet casual, as locals enjoyed special treats, music, raffle and a first look at this new store, barely a half mile walk from the Nordstrom store at The Oaks mall across the street.

Funny how history repeats itself. Fifty five (yes 55) years ago, the headline of a Thousand Oaks Journal news story on Wednesday, November 16, 1960 was "THRIFTY DRUG OPENS NEW 1000 OAKS STORE THURSDAY" and further noted "Giant Throng Expected at Ventura Blvd & Moorpark Rd For Thurs. Grand Opening."  Ventura Blvd is now Thousand Oaks Blvd, the Conejo Village Shopping Center is now Janss Marketplace, and Thrifty Drug Store became Rite Aid many years ago, but that store is still there!

Image courtesy of Thousand Oaks Library Special Collections

Lots of excitement about that new Thrifty store apparently because they awarded Blue Chip Stamps on over 20,000 items!! I'm dating myself by remembering Blue Chip Stamps, a customer loyalty program that went by the wayside in the 1980s. Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, acquired Blue Chip Stamps as a company in the 1970s. Sales were $126 million in 1970 but dropped to pretty much nothing by the 1990s.

Haggen Announced Today That it Is Exiting the Pacific Southwest Market and is Closing 101 More Stores

Haggen today announced its plan to exit from the Pacific Southwest market and realign its operations around 37 core stores and one stand-alone pharmacy in the Pacific Northwest as part of the Chapter 11 process (Haggen filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 8th).

This will impact 101 stores, including all 5 stores in Arizona, all 7 stores in Nevada, all 68 remaining California stores and 21 stores in Washington and Oregon.

Impacted local stores include:

• Ventura (7800 Telegraph Road - former Albertsons)
• Oxnard (920 N. Ventura Road - former Albertsons)
• Westlake Village (5770 Lindero Canyon Road - former Albertsons)
• Thousand Oaks (1736 E. Avenida de los Arboles - former Albertsons)
• Camarillo (2400 Las Posas Road - former Albertsons)

Previously announced closures in process:

• Newbury Park (2100 Newbury Road - former Vons)
• Simi Valley (2800 Cochran - former Albertsons)
• Simi Valley (5135 Los Angeles Avenue - former Albertsons)

My how things change...a year ago, Haggen owned 18 stores in Washington and Oregon. Then acquired 146 Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington (83 in California). In August Haggen announced it was closing 27 stores, including 3 in Ventura County.

Haggen indicated it is asking the bankruptcy court for approval to conduct store closing sales. All employees of these stores will receive 60 days notice of the closures and will continue to receive pay and benefits over this period, as approved by the court.

Haggen is supportive of employees securing work elsewhere and is continuing to work with Albertson’s in its request for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to waive the restriction in the FTC Order which restricts the hiring of Haggen employees. Because this is a modification of an order entered by the FTC, the waiver will require Commission approval, which the FTC staff is seeking to obtain on an expedited basis.

On a personal note, this may be the most unbelievably quick crash and burn business acquisition that I've ever seen.

Carl's Jr. Thousand Oaks to be Remodeled as New and Improved Carl's Jr.

Updated 9/`15/15: The grand re-opening of Carl's Jr at 1384 Moorpark Rd. in Thousand Oaks is set for 6AM on Tuesday, September 22nd.  The first 50 guests will receive a FREE Food For a Year coupon booklet.

Posted 5/29/15: The Thousand Oaks Carl's Jr at 1384 Moorpark Road has been attracting quite a bit of buzz since early this month...it has been fenced off and has been in rapidly changing states of demolition.

Carl's Jr Thousand Oaks on Memorial Day weekend

Much to the relief of CVG Facebook page followers, this location is being rebuilt as a new and improved Carl's Jr. No word on timing at this point.

In the meantime, Conejo Valley Carl's Jr. fans can stop by the Westlake Village and Agoura Hills locations. Learn more at www.carlsjr.com.

California American Water Implements Stage 3 Drought Contingency Plans in Ventura County

On April 1st, 2015 Governor Jerry Brown imposed mandatory 25% statewide water reduction from 2013 and prohibited water uses.  

But this 25% wasn't imposed across the board. The State Water Resources Control Board imposed cutbacks ranging from 4  to 36% from 2013 water use, applying higher guidelines to communities with higher consumption..

California American Water received a target reduction of 32% for its Ventura County customers, near the top of the state's guidelines. From June through August, a cumulative reduction of 27.2% was met, nearly 5% lower than the target. Cal Am customers in the Conejo Valley include most folks west of Moorpark Road.  Most other residents are served by the City of Thousand Oaks and California Water Service. 

As a result, Cal Am's Ventura County customers have been moved from Stage 2 to Stage 3 water-use restrictions. Effective immediately, water use by Cal Am customers in Ventura County is limited to one day a week - odd numbered addresses on Saturdays and even numbered addresses on Sundays  - no more than 15 minutes per station, between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. Exemptions made for hand-watering, drip and microspray irrigation.

Additionally, a "drought surcharge" has been implemented. Customers who use more than 8,976 gallons of water per month will pay an extra 21 cents for every 100 gallons used.

These rules apply only to Cal Am customers. City of Thousand Oaks and Cal Water customer are not impacted at this point.

More information at www.californiaamwater.com/drought.

Ventura County District Cal Am customers are the only ones currently impacted by this change. Why? For starters, Cal Am's other customers did not receive the same level of Residential Gallons Per Capita Day (R-GPCD) reduction standard, ranging from 8% in San Diego County and Monterey to 28% in Los Angeles County.

More specifically, here is what the Water Board indicates was R-GPCD measured for the period Jul-Sep 2014 that was used to determine conservation standards in various local jurisdictions:

• Cal-Am Water Ventura County District: 184.6 R-GPCD - 32% reduction
• City of Thousand Oaks Water District: 163.7 R-GPCD - 28% reduction
• California Water Service - Westlake: 336.7 R-GPCD - 36% reduction
• City of Camarillo: 107.5 R-GPCD - 20% reduction
• Golden State Water Co. Ojai: 261.5 R-GPCD - 36% reduction
• Golden State Water Co. Simi Valley: 129.8 R-GPCD - 24% reduction
• City of Oxnard: 66.6 R-GPCD - 12% reduction
• City of Santa Paula: 160.2 R-GPCD - 28% reduction
• Triunfo Sanitation District/Oak Park Water Service: 195.7 R-GPCD - 32% reduction
• Ventura County Waterworks District 1: 175.3 R-GPCD - 32% reduction
• Ventura County Waterworks District 8: 156.1 R-GPCD - 28% reduction
• Las Virgenes Municipal Water District: 318.4 R-GPCD - 36% reduction

The California State Water Resources Control Board has an online Drinking Water Supply Service Area Lookup Tool to determine who the water provider is for specific location at www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/water_supplier.shtml.

Looking to report water waste? There's an easy to use online tool at savewater.ca.gov.

Cal Lutheran University Ranked 16th in U.S. News List of Top Regional Universities

U.S. News & World Report ranked California Lutheran University among the top regional universities in the West for the 21st consecutive year.

Cal Lutheran is ranked 16th in the top tier of 87 regional universities in 15 Western states. The field included universities that provide a full range of undergraduate majors and master’s degrees but few doctoral programs. The rankings were released today in U.S. News’ 2016 Best Colleges report.

The Thousand Oaks-based university, which provides many opportunities for students to work closely with professors inside and outside the classroom, had a student-faculty ratio of 16-to-1, and the proportion of its classes that had fewer than 20 students increased to 59 percent. The proportion of classes with 50 or more students held steady at 1 percent.

Students working with assistant professor of biology Kristopher Karsten on lizard research (Photo credit: Brian Stethem)
 

The report also considered the freshman retention rate, graduation rate, the university’s assessment by peers at other colleges, and the alumni giving rate. It looked at the academic qualifications of freshmen by factoring in the acceptance rate, the standardized test scores of freshmen and the proportion of freshmen in the top 25 percent of their high school class.

Cal Lutheran ranked 14th among regional universities in the West in the U.S. News Best Colleges for Veterans list. The university has appeared in this ranking every year in this list's three-year history.

The university made the U.S. News list of A-Plus Schools for B Students for the sixth year in a row, showing that admissions policies are flexible enough to allow some students who aren’t at the top of their classes to get in and that students can then go on to thrive during their undergraduate years.

The latest rankings are posted at usnews.com and will be featured in the “Best Colleges 2016” guidebook that is available online and will hit newsstands Sept. 29.

Cal Lutheran also made this year’s lists of Forbes’ America’s Top Colleges, Money’s Best Colleges, Washington Monthly’s Master’s Universities and PayScale’s College Salary Report.

With an enrollment of about 4,200 students, Cal Lutheran offers undergraduate and graduate programs through its College of Arts and Sciences, School of Management, Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of Psychology and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. It has additional locations in Woodland Hills, Westlake Village, Oxnard, Santa Maria and Berkeley.  

County of Ventura Food Facility Closures Mid-May 2015 through August 2015

The County of Ventura Environmental Health Division (EHD) protects public health and the environment by ensuring conformance with State laws and County ordinances pertaining to food protection, hazardous materials, hazardous waste, individual sewage disposal systems, land use, medical waste, ocean water quality monitoring, recreational health, solid waste, underground fuel tanks and vector control.

The EHD publishes food facility closures at www.ventura.org/rma/envhealth/community-services/consumer-food/closures.html.

The following closures were noted from mid-May 2015 through August 2015. Keep in mind when reviewing this that there are many possible reasons for the closures, most of which are very temporary issues.

August 2015

Island Squeeze Cafe, 3301 E. Main Street, Unit 1072, Ventura;

Cockroach infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 08/31/15; Date reopened - 09/02/15

Sam's Club, 2401 N. Rose Ave., Oxnard;

Inoperable plumbing, no water for hand washing or utensil washing;

Date closed - 08/30/15; Date reopened - 09/01/15

TR Oil, 3050 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks;
Rodent infestation, unsanitary conditions;
Date closed - 08/26/15; Date reopened - 08/27/15 

Ojai Ranch House, 102 Besant Rd. Ojai;

Unapproved remodeling of the facility;

Date closed - 08/24/15; Date reopened - 08/31/15 

Rice Thai, 387 E. Main Street, Ventura;

Cockroach infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 08/24/15; Date reopened - 08/31/15

Jack in the Box #3237, 2580 Vineyard Avenue, Oxnard;

Cockroach infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 08/19/15; Date reopened - 08/20/15

Gandolfo's NY Deli, 2790 Seaglass Way, Oxnard;

Rodent infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 08/18/15; Date reopened - 08/20/15

Hook, Line & Sinker Seafood #2, 2950 Johnson Drive, Ventura;

Inoperable plumbing resulting in inability to properly wash utensils;

Date closed - 08/18/15; Date reopened - 08/18/15

Erringer USA, (food sales only), 1356 Erringer Road, Simi Valley;

Rodent infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 08/17/15; Date reopened - 08/18/15

Manny's El Taco De Mexico, 1038 Avenida de los Arboles, Thousand Oaks;

No warm water available for handwashing, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 08/17/15; Date reopened - 08/18/15

Carla's Bakery, 319 W. Los Angeles Avenue, Moorpark;

Cockroach and rodent infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 08/11/15; Date reopened - 08/12/15

Panaderia Gaby, 419 Moorpark Road, Moorpark;

Rodent infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 08/05/15; Date reopened - 08/07/15

Healthy and Active Life, 315 S. Borchard Drive, Ventura;

No hot water available for utensil washing or hand washing;

Date closed - 08/03/15; Date reopened - 08/12/15

July 2015

El Taco De Guadalajara, Lic.#4KV2550, 2557 Cortez Street, Oxnard;

Inoperable refrigeration units, insanitary conditions, unpermitted remodel;

Date closed - 7/30/15; Date reopened - 08/03/15

Dairy Queen, 1368 Madera Road, Simi Valley

Cockroach infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 7/30/15; Date reopened - 7/31/15

Asian Fusion Garden, 842 E. Ojai Avenue, Ojai;

Cockroach infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 7/27/15; Date reopened - 7/30/15

Rice by Mama at 419 E. Main Street, Ventura

Cockroach infestation and unsanitary conditions

Date closed - 7/26/15; Date reopened - 7/30/15

El Matador Meat Market #1, 3801 Saviers Road, Oxnard

Inoperable refrigeration units;

Date closed - 07/21/15; Date reopened - 07/22/15

Sushi Ichiban, 207 E. Channel Island Blvd., Port Hueneme

Cockroach infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 07/21/15; Date reopened - 08/07/15

Lupita’s Restaurant, 616 Cooper Road, Oxnard

Rodent infestation and unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 07/20/15; Date reopened - 07/21/15

Subway, 2887 Agoura Road, Thousand Oaks;

Inoperable plumbing to only hand wash sink in food preparation area;

Date closed - 07/16/15; Date reopened - 07/16/15

Tacos El Monoraca, Lic.#4LN2781, 2557 Cortez St., Oxnard:

Inoperable refrigeration;

Date closed - 07/09/15; Date reopened - 07/10/15

It's Healthy Oak Park Nutrition, 658 Lindero Canyon Road, Oak Park;

Cochroach infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 07/09/15; Date reopened - 07/11/15

Olivios Trattoria Italian Cuisine, 585 E. Los Angeles Avenue, #C, Simi Valley;

Rodent infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 07/09/15; Date reopened - 07/11/15

Arco AM/PM, 3907 E. Telegraph Road, Piru;

Inoperable toilets, sewage backing up inside the facility, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 07/08/15; Date reopened - 07/08/15

June 2015

Marisco El Campeon, 1175 E. Harvard Blvd., Santa Paula;

Rodent infestation; unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 06/30/15; Date reopened - 07/02/15

Mi Pueblito Meat Market, 148 S. Ojai Street, Santa Paula;

Rodent & fly infestation inside the facility; unsanitary conditions; failure to adhere to a compliance agreement;

Date closed- 06/29/15; Date reopened - 06/30/15

Montezuma Restaurant, 112 Stroube Street, Oxnard;

Serious and repeated violations; unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 06/25/15; Date reopened - 06/27/15

Round Table Pizza, 239 W. Los Angeles Avenue, Moorpark;

Warewashing sink unavailable for utensil washing;

Date closed - 06/16/15; Date reopened - 06/17/15

El Pollo Loco, 571 New Los Angeles Avenue, Moorpark;

Warewashing sink unavailable for utensil washing;

Date closed - 06/15/15; Date reopened - 06/15/15

Corrigan's Steak House, 556 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks;

Rodent infestation, cockroach infestation, unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 06/15/15; Date reopened - 06/17/15

May 2015

Las Sirenas Bar & Grill, 2091 N. Oxnard Blvd, Oxnard;

Serious and repeated violations; failure to adhere to a compliance agreement; no hot water at bar or at women's restroom; unsanitary conditions;

Date closed - 05/20/15; Date reopened - 05/22/15

Tresierras Supermarket, 280 E. Harvard Blvd., Santa Paula;

Serious and repeated violations, failure to adhere to a compliance agreement;

Date closed - 05/19/15; Date reopened - 05/20/15

Saloon BBQ Co., 456 E. Main Street, Ventura;

Rodent infestation; unsanitary conditions; failure to adhere to a compliance agreement;

Date closed - 05/18/15; Date reopened - 05/19/15

Commemorative Air Force SoCal Wing Constructing New Hangar Complex as Part of Expansion

Existing CAF Hangar at Camarillo Airport

Construction is underway on a new, 32,800 sq. ft. hangar complex, part of a multimillion dollar plan by the Commemorative Air Force Wing to develop a modern WWII aviation museum that will attract more U.S. and world visitors to Ventura County wanting to see its historical archives and flying fighter, bomber, training, and other aircraft on display.

The Wing has run out of space in the current CAF complex, built 14 years ago, consisting ofa maintenance/restoration hangar, and adjoining museum/and event hangar.

Concrete has been poured around the exterior perimeter of the new hangar building including the big foundation pads where the main steel beam framework will be bolted into place. Once all the foundation cement and flooring is poured and cures, then attaching the steel sections begins.

The new hangar was engineered, manufactured and specifically designed by Butler Buildings to fit adjacent to the present western side of the CAF property.

One key element of the expansion plan is a CAF wing 30-year leasing agreement with the Department of Airports. It insures the aviation museum complex will remain at Camarillo Airport for years to come.

The agreement also involves a lease-land swap with Camarillo Chapter 723 of the Experimental Aircraft Association. It wanted to give up its land, old office building and hangars next door to the CAF. In the exchange, the E.A.A. gets new offices, a new hangar and is leasing facilities in the new CAF Complex. The old E.A.A. buildings were torn down and foundations removed.

The new Hangar complex provides the Wing with much needed space for parking and displaying aircraft and museum historical artifacts.

Ultimately this will be a new state-of-the-art, temperature-controlled indoor two-story aviation museum with all new exhibits, a theater, digital video areas, a restaurant with an outdoor viewing area of the museum and hangar complex and a new gift shop.

More information at www.cafsocal.com.

Westlake Village Community Park, Skate Park and Triunfo YMCA Facility

Westlake Village Community Park construction well underway

Westlake Village Community Park is located on a hilltop at 31107 Thousand Oaks Blvd (just west of Lindero Canyon Road). There is a one-way entrance and a one-way exit off of Thousand Oaks Blvd that can be accessed by vehicle, bicycle, or sidewalk during park hours.

This is a 19 acre site that includes the park as well as the 55,000 sq ft Triunfo YMCA facility slated to open in early 2016. 

View of the Triunfo Y facility under construction

Once completed, Westlake Village Community Park will contain eight acres of lighted synthetic turf athletic fields for soccer, baseball, softball, and other sports, a walking/jogging trail, skate park, picnic areas, outdoor volleyball and basketball courts, fitness equipment, restroom/concession facilities, and children’s play areas. 

Ball fields 1 and 2 as well as the skate park are currently open to the public.

Skate park at Westlake Village Community Park is open to the public

Haggen Announces It Is Closing 27 Grocery Stores, Including 3 in Ventura County

Seen near the Newbury park location on labor day

Haggen announced today that it is closing 27 stores in California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington over the next 60 days as part of a restructuring. Local stores that will be operating as they wind down operations over the next 60 days are in Newbury Park (Newbury Road) and two in Simi Valley (Cochran St and Madera, 660 E. Los Angeles Ave).

38 staff will lose their jobs at the Newbury Park location.  53 at the Los Angeles Ave location.

Earlier this year, the Haggen grocery store chain acquired 146 stores as part of the Albertsons/Safeway merger. Prior to the acquisition, Haggen operated 18 stores in Oregon and Washington. 

Of the 146 stores, eight are based on Ventura County. After the closures, that leaves five Haggen stores operating in the local area.

Remaining local area Haggen stores in Westlake Village (Lindero Canyon), Thousand Oaks (Arboles), Simi Valley (E. Los Angeles), Camarillo (Las Posas), Oxnard (Ventura Rd) and Ventura (Telegraph Rd). www.haggen.com/find-our-stores