Dave Chapin, founder of Carlsbad board game maker The Op, returns to the company as CEO with plans to lead the expansion of the business into family entertainment as well as games.
According to a news release, Chapin “returns to his roots” after he had left the company to pursue other business interests.
He said his goal is to expand the quarter-century old business.
The release said that the company holds popular licenses in the games sector, such as Schitt’s Creek Monopoly and Sopranos Monopoly.
Chapin said one of the initiatives he’ll spearhead is the digital and TV launch of Telestrations, a game that has already sold millions of copies in its physical form.
Chapin and family members launched the company 1994 with a license to make city editions of the famous board game Monopoly. The business started rapidly growing with the launch of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics edition of Monopoly.
In the early days, when the company’s games weren’t moving quickly, Dane and his employees sold games out of his car parked in the Olympics parking lot, according to a company news release.
According to a research report issued in January, the market for board games is expected to reach $2.6 billion by 2025.
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To celebrate its 10th Anniversary next month, Kearny Mesa’s craft beer maker Societe Brewing said it is opening a satellite tasting room in Old Town in early 2023, plus issuing a 10th-anniversary beer and a calendar of beer events to commemorate their first decade of beer-making.
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San Diego public finance company Heritage Global, which specializes in asset transactions, has reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31.
The company says it generated operating income of $875,000, or 2 cents per share, for the quarter compared to operating income of $1 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter, per its earnings announcement.
“With the end of Covid-related stimulus payments, we are starting to see a higher volume of charged-off consumer loans coming to market,” said chief executive Ross Dove.
“Likewise, with the current inflationary macroeconomic conditions, more and more financial institutions are pointing to a recession as a market likelihood, which we believe will lead to a significant increase in non-performing loans as we move through the year.”
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A jury in Delaware has ordered San Diego gene-sequencing equipment maker Illumina to pay $333 million to the U.S. unit of Chinese-based BGI Group. The jury found that Illumina’s sequencing systems infringed on two of BGI’s patents.
According to a Reuters’ news report, the jury said Illumina infringed the patents willfully, and invalidated Illumina’s claim that BGI has infringed on thee of its patents.
The companies have been embroiled in a global legal battle over their respective sequencing technologies, with court cases in countries including Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, and Turkey
Illumina said Friday in a filing with the SEC that it could be required to pay interest and royalty payments until 2029 when the two patents expire, if appeals are denied.
The share price dropped 14% on Mary 13 after the decision. The price per share has a 42-week high of $526 and a 53-week low of $208.
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MyCase, which provides legal practice management software and payment services to law firms, says it has acquired Docketwise, an immigration software platform used by more than 6,000 immigration legal practitioners.
MyCase is complete legal practice management software designed for the modern law firm. It covers the entire client lifecycle with lead management, case management, billing and invoicing, and reporting.
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Alcohol-free beer maker Athletic Brewing Company, with facilities in Boston and here in San Diego, says it has achieved Certified B Corporation status. The certification comes as the brewery celebrates its fourth anniversary.
According to a company website, the certification designates that a business has met prescribed standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on numerous factors ranging from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.
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San Diego public mortgage provider Guild Mortgage, which has been originating residential loans since 1960, says it has introduced a new program to help homebuyers compete with all-cash offers in today’s competitive housing market.
The local company says its CashPass program enables buyers to submit cash offers with no financing or appraisal contingencies required.
During the current housing shortage, cash buyers have flooded the market, driving out buyers who require a down payment and mortgage approval to make an offer on a property.
According to a company statement, buyers who submit cash offers quadruple their chances of winning a bidding war. This is according to data from residential real estate website Redfin.
The rise in all-cash home purchases comes during a continuing seller’s market, the company statement said. Historically, low supply has tipped the scales and increased demand among buyers.
A year ago, Redfin said that cash deals represented more than a third of the market nationwide.
“With less inventory, sellers are getting multiple strong offers and we want to help our clients compete and win,” said Guild top executive Mary Ann McGarry. “In this competitive housing market, Guild recognizes the need to help level the playing field for our clients who aren’t able to make an all-cash offer on their own. Guild’s CashPass program helps homebuyers make more competitive offers vital to winning when a seller is faced with multiple bids from which to choose.”
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And speaking of housing, here’s a potential bit of relief for the ongoing shelter squeeze in the region. National homebuilder KB Home has announced the opening of Silverado, a townhome development in Vista. Pricing begins from the mid $700,000s, and the units on sale will range in size from 1,600 to 1,900 square feet.
KB has six projects underway in San Diego County. These include, Ridgeview, Mission Villas and The Foothills in San Marcos, plus Crestline in Spring Valley and Sundance at Park Circle in Spring Valley.
According to a spokesman, the builder also plans to open four more developments this year in the country. They include Aurora and Bluffs in Spring Valley, Cadence in Oceanside and The Terraces in Lemon Grove.
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Irvine-based retirement home operator Oakmont Management says ithas opened Santianna, its new community in Carlsbad.
According to a news release, Oakmont is one of the leaders in the senior living industry, with 4,500 residentials living in 40 projects in California and Nevada.
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Finally, Canadian electric bike maker DŌST said it’s sponsoring the attempt by Danielle “Flipper” Kreusch and Kyle “Skipper” Hawkins to set a new Guinness World Record for “longest journey on a motorized bicycle.”
The couple started out n St. Petersburg, Florida, May 1, and plans to travel more than 7,000 miles over three months on their way to San Diego.
They hope to “pedal” about 100 miles a day.
By my estimate, we can expect to see them speeding to the coast in July.
According to a release, the Guinness record for longest journey was set six years ago when Ravindran Kempaiah covered 12 states and 5,100 miles in 34 days.
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.