Wolfgang Puck cooks up a deal to sell his pizzas in El Segundo.
PUCK’S PLACE: There are some who said Wolfgang Puck sold out when his Spago pizzas started showing up a few years ago in supermarket frozen food aisles.
Then a Puck fast-food joint recently opened on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Now look what he’s doing: opening an eatery at Continental Park Plaza in El Segundo.
The Wolfgang Puck Food Co. is close to signing a deal to open a cafe on the ground floor of a seven-story Rosecrans Avenue building that once housed TRW Inc. and Hughes Aircraft Co.
While it’s no Sunset Strip, Puck officials were lured by the area’s high median income and job base, even with aerospace firms cutting back.
Wolfgang Puck’s California Cafe, which serves pizzas, pastas and salads in the $8 to $15 range, would open next summer and cater to a business clientele as well as residents in nearby affluent beach communities.
The eatery would be similar to one at Universal CityWalk and another scheduled to open later this year at the MGM Grand Hotel and Theme Park in Las Vegas.
Richard Lundquist, president of building owner Continental Development Corp., has hopes that the famed chef’s food will help draw more tenants to the 500,000-square-foot building, which will be renovated.
And Lundquist is considering more restaurants.
Said Lundquist: “I’m going to have to buy bigger clothes.”
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THE PLAYER: The South Bay once was just far enough away from Hollywood to be out of touch with the entertainment world. But that may be changing.
Last week, Entertainment Weekly placed Wherehouse Entertainment Chairman Scott Young on its list of the 101 Most Influential People in Entertainment.
The 47-year-old head of the Torrance-based retail chain “took on the big-boy music labels over the right to sell used CDs--and won.”
When Wherehouse began selling used CDs, four major record labels pulled out of joint advertising deals that cost the chain millions. And country singer Garth Brooks refused to allow his latest album to be sold in its 339 stores. But Brooks and the record companies later backed off.
Young shouldn’t get too power hungry, though. His rank was No. 99. On the bright side, it was higher than Katie Couric and Barney the Dinosaur.
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MONEY ON THE WAY: Three agencies in the South Bay will receive grants from the United Way’s Harbor/Southeast Region to bolster or create programs aimed at gang prevention, health care and the effect of drugs on children.
The Harbor Area Gang Alternatives Program, based in San Pedro, the Harbor UCLA Research and Education Institute in Torrance and the South Bay Free Clinic, based in Manhattan Beach, were among nine agencies in California receiving grants totaling more than $315,000.
The gang alternatives program was awarded $34,399 to extend its school-based gang prevention program into Harbor Gateway.
The Harbor UCLA Research and Education Institute received $49,996 for services to drug-exposed children and their parents, and the South Bay Free Clinic received $29,937 to provide cancer screenings to underinsured and uninsured minority women.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I was bouncing off the wall. It was like a dream coming true.”
--Perry B. Hacking, professor at El Camino College near Torrance, after hearing that his unique telescope design has earned him a finalist’s spot in a NASA program.
LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS
Inglewood: Mayor Edward Vincent announced that he was awarded the Tom Bradley Local Political Achievement Award by the Black American Political Action Committee at its recent meeting in Sacramento. The committee cited Vincent for his “unique approach to problem-solving in the inner city.”
Torrance: City workers held protests at the city yard, claiming they have been treated unfairly. Torrance has not given pay raises in three years because of what city officials describe as austere times. The city allocated $1,100 to each of its 1,400 employees as a way of providing compensation.
THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS
Inglewood: A delegation of 16 Korean officials from the city of Kyongju, Korea’s ancient capital, will arrive on Monday for a two-day stay. Kyongju is one of Inglewood’s five sister cities. The delegation will include the vice mayor of Kyongju, 10 council members and a contingent of Korean press.
