SLO pancake place closing?
No announcement from the management, but the IHOP restaurant property on Madonna in San Luis Obispo is for lease according to a real estate company. McCarty Davis Real Estate website says the 1971 built pancake house will be available as of January 1, 2026 – just a few months from now.
Unlike some IHOP restaurants, the eatery is not open for dinner, but just breakfast and lunch.Reports says IHOP closed 88 locations in 2024 and planned to close another 70 to 90 locations in 2025. There has been a struggle for customers in the casual dining and family-dining sector – sit down restaurants that are less popular these days.
Among the younger generation going out for a sit down breakfast is also out of favor. A recent study of Gen Z found they are less likely to dine out for breakfast compared to older generations. Instead they go for quick, at-home, or grab-and-go options like smoothies, granola bars, and make-ahead items.
SLO airport traffic up, LAX down
San Luis Obispo airport is seeing an uptick in passenger traffic so far this year ,up each month according to the latest statistics. (red on above chart).
Meanwhile passenger numbers at LAX are down in August for both domestic travel, down 5.1% and international- down about 2%compared to Aug 2024.Year over year passenger numbers are down 4.3%.Air cargo is down 10%.
Albertsons may open drugstore at former Morro Bay Rite-Aid
Employees at the Morro Bay Albertsons says the grocer has won a round of bidding to take over the next door Rite Aid store property vacated by the bankrupt drug chain. The intention is to install an Albertsons Pharmacy in the building next year.
Chase closes one Arroyo Grande branch
JP Morgan Chase has shuttered one of their two Arroyo Grande branches on 900 Rancho Parkway according to a notice filed with the Office of the Comptroller Of the Currency. Chase’s branch at 1242 E Grand Ave remains open.
SLO County home permits up
Construction Monitor reports that 394 single-family home permits have been issued in San Luis Obispo County so far in 2025, up from 288 in the same 9 months of 2024,231 in 2023 and down from 464over the same period in 2022.
In another report, the California Association of Realtors says home sales were up in August in San Luis Obispo County.In SLO County sales of existing homes were up 3.4% year over year. August’s median price dropped from $940,000 in July to $935,000 in August 2025.Next door Santa Barbara County reported a 32.6% year over year increase in its median home price.
200 lose hope at City of Hope
City of Hope announced more than 200 employees will be laid off by December 1 confirmed in a state WARN notice.The cuts were described as part of a strategic realignment and mainly affected business support and operational roles. A spokeswoman for Duarte-based City of Hope stated that patient care would not be directly impacted.The layoffs were concentrated among business support and operations staff, spanning all levels of management The has multiple locations around the LA area.The cuts were the first workforce reduction in 25 years.
Privately owned City of Hope is best known as a cancer treatment center. It has been designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute.