ALSO. . .

* Medical products company Mentor Corp. of Santa Barbara warned that its first-quarter earnings would fall below Wall Street expectations due to lower sales. Earnings per share for the quarter ended June 30 are expected to range between 32 cents and 34 cents, below the First Call/Thomson Financial consensus estimate of 37 cents. In the year-ago quarter, Mentor earned 28 cents per share.

* Strouds Inc. has retained Thomas W. Hanlon, an independent financial consultant, to serve as the Industry-based linen retailer’s interim chief financial officer, replacing Gary Van Wagner, who resigned.

* Avenue Entertainment Group Inc., a Los Angeles-based movie and TV producer, has agreed to acquire the privately held SolutionsAmerica Inc., a digital business processor, in a stock swap. SolutionsAmerica stock will be converted into the right to receive a majority of Avenue Entertainment shares. Avenue Entertainment fell 6 cents to close at $1.94 on the American Stock Exchange.