by Jane Williams

A year from now will we look back and say the economy recovered from the depths of the worst recession since the Great Depression and the good times are here or just around the corner, or will we still be trying to guess what is happening next? This writer decided to try to catch a local snapshot of what is happening economically.

She began by talking to David McCauley, a business recruiter for the city of La Habra and ask what he thought. McCauley stated business is good at the Imperial Hwy. and Beach Blvd. corner. Almost every business there appears to be succeeding in this economy. East on Imperial at the Promenade the vacancy created by Circuit City going out of business needs to be filled. 

Farther east the old Target lease ended and it did not renew so that land is up for sale at a price of $10,000,000 for eight acres.  Across the street CVS is building a new 200,000 sq. ft. facility to replace the old cold storage place.  However, the empty HD Supply has not been an easy space to market and remains empty.

McCauley wasn’t eager to talk about other shopping areas, but did admit he has been unable to interest anyone in the old Ralph’s store on Whittier. In the next breath he pointed out Greens, a new small grocery which stressed fresh vegetables, meat and other items at low prices, opened its doors at Hacienda and Whittier.

At the same time McCauley felt retail business was still down 30% but had stabilized with signs that people (i.e. consumers) were recovering some confidence.

Greg Jones who specializes in commercial real estate said, “ You asked me who’s doing well. Let’s see—the repo guys, car auctions, drug and liquor stores are the ones doing better. It’s not a lot better in my business than it was a year ago.”

Jones did say major investors are beginning to look toward a future that they obviously think will see better times and are dealing in commercial real estate loans about to go into foreclosure. Also landlords are now willing to deal and get some income coming in. “I spend 20% of my time doing lease renegotiations. There is so much empty it takes negotiation to fill a spot,” he said.