COVID-19 was about to score a perfect strike when it rolled through San Diego more than a year ago. Three of the region’s major bowling centers faced permanent closure, given the inability of these particular businesses to cover overhead while sitting idle in a statewide lockdown.
But now we can report that at least one of those centers, Mira Mesa Lanes, is managing a comeback, thanks to the arrival new owners — Missy Parkin, a professional bowler from Laguna Hills, and husband Drew Parkin. The two bought the five-decade old center for an undisclosed price with an investor in Orange County.
Although they’ve been operating the 44-lanes at 25% capacity for the past month, the two are confident they can keep the sport of bowling alive now that the pandemic is waning and capacity restrictions are being eased.
Drew Parkin says since they’ve re-opened, they have been able to lure back about 2,000 of the 6,000 enthusiasts who once played in leagues pre-pandemic. He said they’ve made numerous renovations to make the center as safe possible and plan to continue renovation to give the place a more modern look.
Meanwhile, future plans include adding a Saturday youth league and expanding the number of hours of open lanes for the casual bowler.
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Light, camera, action! San Diego -based California Bank & Trust recently added Daisy Stall as its top entertainment finance manager. According to a news release, Stall brings 25-plus years in banking and entertainment to the position. And her resume includes a stint at Sony Pictures, where she managed foreign exchange and capital funding for the studio’s film and TV productions.
“As the industry’s business model continues to evolve in the film, television and music spaces, I am bullish about the prospects during this time of change,” said Stall in a news release. “My new role at CB&T will allow me to leverage the bank’s strong balance sheet and entrepreneurial culture to better serve my clients.”
She added that San Diego is a key region for film production outside of Hollywood.
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San Diego’s Heron Therapeutics says the FDA has OK’d the use of its drug Zynrelef, designed to reduce pain levels after surgery. The company’s new product, applied directly to the wound at the end of a surgery, replaces traditional but addictive opioid-based pain-killers.
The company says this feature offers an important new alternative for surgeons as the CDC says that the nation’s opioid epidemic continues to worsen. Indeed, more than 90,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses in the year ended September 2020.
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Sandwich purveyor Subway says it plans to add more than 150 new workers over the next month throughout the region–part of a national push to hire 40,000 workers. The chain boasts 78 franchise outlets in San Diego, with each store determining how many employees needed to meet their growth projections.
For those interested, click here to see the list of openings in the area. Subway is looking to fill multiple positions from entry-level to management.
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Local fast-casual food franchiser QDOBA Mexican Eats has hired Shawn Caric as its new VP for franchise development. According to a news release, Caric will direct expansion of the 740-unit operations in the United States and Canada.
Caric joins QDOBA as the company is adding a new restaurant design to help boost growth within city centers. The design features a smaller takeout footprint–as small as 1,200 square feet — for a better fit in urban locations.
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And speaking of fast food … Jack in the Box named 25-year-plus fast-food veteran Tony Darden as chief operating officer. Previously, Darden was with Mooyah Burgers Fries and Shakes, where he served as president. Earlier in his career he was chief operating officer at Taco Bueno and Sun Holdings, the fourth largest franchisee in the United States. Click here for a deeper look inside the box!
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Local serial entrepreneur John Burd, the founder of glucose monitor company DexCom, says he’s picked up a fifth patent for his new nutritional supplement Lysulin. He says the patent was awarded for a new method of preventing protein glycation.
Protein glycation is the cause of insulin resistance and Type 2, or adult onset, diabetes, and its many health-related complications. He claims that the over-the-counter medication acts like a “sponge” to remove glucose from the bloodstream, making it easier to manage diabetes.
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Finally, this item of note. The successor to the Yes on Proposition 22 Coalition has issued a report that notes more than 1.2 million app-based drivers statewide earned $4.2 billion in income during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The coalition used numbers provided by rideshare and delivery services Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart.
Prop. 22, which approved by voters Nov. 3, overturned key parts of Assembly Bill 5, which required that app-based drivers be classified as employees. With key parts of AB 5 overturned, drivers can continue to be considered as independent contractors. Here’s the link for a deeper dive.
Tom York is a Carlsbad-based independent journalist who specializes in writing about business and the economy. If you have news tips you’d like to share, send them to tom.york@gmail.com.