Retailers

Local unemployment rates continued to fall in November as professional and business service sectors started to recover, state economic development officials reported Friday. The unemployment rate in Burbank fell to 9.9% last month from 10.3% in October. Glendale slid to 10.6% from 11% over the same period, according to the California Economic Development Department. In the La Crescenta-Montrose region, the unemployment rate fall from 5.8% in October to 5.6% last month. In La Cañada-Flintridge, the rate fell slightly by 0.2% to 4.5%.

I’m pathetic. When I was laid off, a friend gave me some sage advice: “When you stop everything you’re doing because ‘The View’ is about to come on,” he warned, “get help.” Well, I’m not there yet, but it might be worse. In addition to my interesting new clothing habits, unemployment has caused me to become a grumpy old man — no offense to grumpy old men. I was sitting at the computer wondering why I haven’t been able to write that bestselling novel in the three weeks since my unemployment, when my wife announced she was going to run some errands.

DOWNTOWN — Expectations grew Thursday for improved holiday sales as retailers in October posted their biggest gains in more than a year, renewing hope for a major improvement over the dismal 2008 winter season. Retail sales at 32 U.S. chain stores jumped 2.1% in October compared with a year ago, the second consecutive month of growth following 13 months of declines, the International Council of Shopping Centers reported Thursday. Another survey found mixed signs of improvement in the retail segment, with October same-store sales growing 1.8% over 2008 marks, which was lower than an expected 2% increase, but still a positive sign, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis of 30 national companies.

DOWNTOWN — Halloween retailers have taken up prime positions in Glendale and Burbank, moving into unfilled space left behind by box stores Circuit City and Mervyns. The stores are adding to increasingly fierce competition for Halloween consumers, who will have at least five choices in Burbank and four in Glendale to search for gorilla masks and superhero costumes this season. While the stores have generated traffic in areas that haven’t seen much activity for months, they have also been a surprising change for some shoppers, managers said.

Customers across the region Friday took advantage of deep discounts at big-name retail outlets and smaller stores throughout Glendale and Burbank during one of the traditionally busiest shopping days of the year. Officials at clothing stores, electronic shops and the area’s biggest malls largely proclaimed the day a success, expecting to beat estimates from economists who predicted sluggish after-Christmas sales. Though sales figures were not immediately available, Jennifer Gordon, a spokeswoman for Caruso Affiliated, which runs the Americana, said the mall figures to build on what has already been a successful holiday shopping season.

Retailers are bracing for a tough holiday shopping season in which sales figures in the region could decline as shoppers continue to weather an economic storm that has torpedoed personal spending, analysts said Monday. National and local organizations project a 1% to 4% drop in usual holiday sales figures, which could sink profit margins at regional malls including the Americana at Brand, Glendale Galleria and Burbank Town Center. “We think that the region is looking forward to a rather dismal Christmas,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

BURBANK — Retailers are bracing for a tough holiday shopping season in which sales figures in the region could decline as shoppers continue to weather an economic storm that has torpedoed personal spending, analysts said Monday. National and local organizations project a 1% to 4% drop in usual holiday sales figures, which could sink profit margins at regional malls including the Americana at Brand, Glendale Galleria and Burbank Town Center. “We think that the region is looking forward to a rather dismal Christmas,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

GLENDALE — Mervyns, whose three-story retail outlet has been a fixture at the Glendale Galleria for a quarter century, announced Friday that it will close its remaining 149 stores throughout California and the Southwest. The move will not only affect the 101 S. Brand Blvd. location in Glendale but will also result in the closure of the Burbank store at 245 E. Magnolia Blvd., company officials said. In a release, Mervyns Chief Executive John Goodman said the massive closure, expected to take place after the holiday season, comes amid increasing challenges to its operations after repeated attempts to keep its branches open.

BURBANK — Local discount retailer Steve and Barry’s will remain open despite cuts of more than 100 of the chain’s stores nationwide. The corporate chain, which boasts celebrity lines such as BITTEN by Sarah Jessica Parker and items priced below $10.98, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 9, citing a worsening economy as a reason for its decline. On Aug. 21, BH S&B Holdings, a subsidiary of Manhattan-based investment firm Bay Harbour Management, purchased the company for $163 million at an auction of the retailer’s assets.