SLO foreclosure activity increases
Thursday October 11th, 2007 - 10:07:15 am
Dan Reddell Email
Thursday, Oct 11, 2007
Posted on Thu, Oct. 11, 2007
Biz Buzz: More are losing homes this year
An increasing number of San Luis Obispo County residents are losing their homes as foreclosure activity continued to ratchet higher during September, according to data from All American Foreclosure Service, a San Luis Obispo firm that tracks county foreclosures.
Lenders sent county homeowners 859 notices of default —the first step in the foreclosure process—this year between January and September, including 101 notices last month. In 2006, 382 default notices were sent during the first nine months of the year.
Meanwhile, 223 trustee’s deeds—the final step in the foreclosure process when the owner loses the home—were recorded through the end of September. That’s more than five times the activity in the same period last year (39) and three times the full-year activity in both 2005 and 2006.
Although Don Vaughn, the owner of All American Foreclosure Service, expects foreclosure activity to continue at a similar pace into next year, he does see one bright spot.
“Now, there are more conventional lenders willing to do workouts with borrowers. They recognize that it is better to have people in the houses,” Vaughn said. “That’s a big change from six months ago when a borrower couldn’t find anybody to talk to.”
—Ermina Karim
Golfland Warehouse sounds familiar
Two Tennis Warehouse employees have branched off on a new business called Golfland Warehouse. The retail golf shop at 3536 S. Higuera St. in San Luis Obispo also has a Web site to ship golf products worldwide.
“We’re a one-stop shop for golf, offering full club repairs and top brands of clothing and equipment,” owner Nick Taylor said. “We’re also experts on golf and have a launch monitor that can analyze a person’s swing with a particular golf club.”
The retail golf goods store sounds like it is one of Drew Munster’s and Mark Sczbecki’s Warehouse business offshoots— they own the Tennis Warehouse, Tackle Warehouse and Running Warehouse, to name a few. The Golfland owners, Taylor and Jarred Peterson, still work for the Tennis Warehouse, and they have used the Warehouse model as “a fingerprint of what Golfland is doing,” Taylor said. But the business actually has no official tie to Munster’s and Sczbecki’s enterprises, he said.
And, while 99 percent of Tennis Warehouse’s business is from online sales and shopping, Golfland Warehouse gets most of its revenues from customers shopping in the store itself.
“I have a bigger joy for the retail side,” Taylor said. “It’s more exciting to have the interaction with the customers, especially since I have lots of friends and family here from living on the Central Coast.”
Nonetheless, Taylor says he’s a big believer in Web sales.
“It’s hard to stay competitive without selling online,” he said. “Online is a great equalizer, as long as you present yourself professionally.”
They have already exceeded his business goal for the year, he added, which was “to break even.”
—Melanie Cleveland
Memory Walk fundraiser planned
Registration is open for the Alzheimer’s San Luis Obispo County and Santa Maria Memory Walk fundraiser at www.centralcoastalz.org. The event is planned for 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at San Luis Obispo’s Sinsheimer Park. After the stroll, there will be music by Cuesta Ridge Mountain Boys, a complimentary barbecue lunch, massages and other entertainment. Call 547-3830 for details. Pledges and donations will go to local families and caregivers affected by Alzheimer’s.
—Tonya Strickland
Sunglasses store opens Friday
Sunsights by Solstice will open at San Luis Obispo’s Downtown Centre on Friday. The 936-square-foot shop has sunglasses ranging from $75 to $500 with brands such as Juicy Couture, Valentino, J.Lo, Gucci and Armani. The national retailer has 107 stores across the country.
—Tonya Strickland
•••
Jano Graphics, a print communications company with an office in San Luis Obispo, recently hired Joel Perfetto and Mike Phillips for its sales department. Perfetto most recently worked for Williamson Printing in Texas as a member of the customer support team, and Phillips is a former sales manager for Los Angeles-based Gans Ink Co.
—Tonya Strickland
•••
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Association of Electrical Contractors recently hosted a weekend training session at the local chapter of IBEW in San Luis Obispo. Participants learned about solar panel installation. More than 200 journeyman, apprentice electricians and electrical contractors from San Luis Obispo and surrounding counties attended. The Statewide Labor Management Cooperation Committee helped organize the event.
—Tonya Strickland

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