Anderson said she believes it’s a “heightened awareness” of nationwide economic concerns that has people talking about the local business signs and changes, rather than the economy sucking up the local business community.
Over at the city’s new Town Center, Sport Chalet Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Craig Levra said he couldn’t talk about earnings for the recently opened Sport Chalet facility; however, that data will be available next month.
Though he’s not saying that sales are down at Sport Chalet, Levra blames that “heightened awareness” of economic concerns for consumers buying less.
“The economic environment has created a real fear. People are naturally afraid to spend money [for what is] not true [necessities],” he said, adding that Sport Chalet is not immune to that collective fear.
Staff over at City Hall isn’t ready to attribute local signs with national woes; however, the larger number of signs may have gone unnoticed by some staffers.
“I haven’t noticed that many vacancies,” said Fred Buss, senior planner for the city of La Cañada Flintridge. “Generally we have people looking to get places [to lease] in La Cañada Flintridge, there usually aren’t any available, so if [vacancies have] been a trend of late, which it might be, that’s news to me,” Buss added.
Harriet Lang, a city assistant planner, handles many of the business licenses within the city and keeps track of how many licenses she processes per year.
According to those statistics, the city hasn’t seen a slump in new businesses coming into the city within the past year. In 2006, she processed 20 new licenses; 41 in 2007; and, 49 in 2008.
