Category: Business

International visits off nearly 75% from 2019

-January 2,2022-

As we move into 2022, both LAX and SFO passenger traffic have a way to go to recover from pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019 when the economy shrunk. That means fewer visitors coming to the state’s famous destinations.

Through October of this year, and before the omicron virus became a factor, SFO recorded 2.7 million passengers. Of that, just 330,000 passengers were international passengers. By comparison in 2019 through the same month, the airport recorded 4.8 million total passengers of which 1.2 million were international visitors. If San Francisco is famous as a worldwide destination, those visits are down about 75%!

SF’s hotel occupancy this past year shows how hard the reduced traffic has impacted stays with occupancy just 51%, through October. one of the lowest in the state . Used to be SF was the high flyer in California with typical 90% occupancy rates.

At LAX, year-to -date through November, the larger Los Angeles airport has seen 35 million domestic passengers – up from 21 million through November 2020 during the height of the economic shutdown.

This year LAX has seen 7 million international passengers.

But in 2019, before the pandemic, the  airport saw 57 million domestic  passengers and 23.5 million international visitors for that 11 month period.

That amounts to one quarter of the international travelers coming to LA this year vs pre-pandemic numbers, despite the recovery this year.

Across all airports in California, the state tourism agency says September 2021 year-to-date percentages for California airports’ domestic traffic was down -38.1% and -73% for international traffic compared to 2019.

That is a huge impact on the Golden State economy made even more worrisome considering the new catchy variant that is slamming the nation and quickly canceling current travel plans at the new year.

Today, January 1, an industry report said total airline cancellations  are 4,036 and cancellations within, into, or out of the United States today are 2,335. That in turn spreads a wave of canceled plans when people arrive in California to travel,stay in a hotel and rent a car.

 

Electric & hybrid sales gain market share

-December 16,2021-

SACRAMENTO, CA – While demand for vehicles continues to increase to pre-pandemic levels, supply bottlenecks are preventing a full recovery says the California new Car Dealer Associations Third Quarter report.

Earlier estimates hoped for a slightly stronger recovery, with new vehicle sales expected to approach 2 million for the year. The ongoing microchip issue has led to a more bearish outlook, trimming expectations closer to 1.85 million for this year. Despite the slightly leaner estimation, sales are still expected to surpass 2020 numbers by nearly 13 percent.

“The impacts of the ongoing microchip shortage certainly can’t be ignored, but California’s new car dealers are working tirelessly to ensure that the needs of our motoring public are met,” said California New Car Dealers Association Chairperson, Mark Normandin, owner of Normandin Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram FIAT. “Despite this challenge, with patience from consumers, the nature of California’s competitive automotive marketplace has allowed our industry to continue providing the vehicles sought by buyers, with the same quality of service they have come to expect.”

Major Trends at a Glance

Electric vehicles continued their strong emergence, as consumer demand increases alongside new models entering the market. This week’s LA Auto Show highlighted this growing market, with automakers unveiling an assortment of new electric vehicles in their model lineups. 

Hybrid and electric sales have expanded to nearly 22 percent of the market share.

Manufacturers are racing to establish themselves with their consumer bases, as more buyers look towards electrification. This comes as EVs increased their market share in Q3 to 8.3 percent, a full 2 percent over 2020.

Along with EVs, hybrids also showed a strong presence continuing their longtime growth, now commanding 10.3 percent of the market, and plug-in hybrids joined the trend, increasing to 3.3 percent in total sales. Altogether, hybrid and electric sales have expanded to nearly 22 percent of the market share.

The LA Auto Show unveilings also mimicked another growing trend among consumers, the continued desire for SUVs. In the first three quarters of 2021, nonluxury SUVs made of 34 percent of all new vehicle sales, with pickups and vans a distant second at 17 percent.

Despite sales bottlenecks, the new vehicle market continued its strong recovery from last year. As consumer demand remains low for many products, car buyers are returning to dealerships eagerly

searching for their next vehicle. Yet, while demand shows a major comeback, the reality of the COVID pandemic remains, with exterior factors continuing to impact global supply chains.

Sequoia hotels closed until May

Detour heading to the coast next summer-thru March 2024

Promises 50 to 100 “career jobs”

-December 13,2021-

There is a new company opening in Visalia this week. Montana-based Wildfire Defense Systems (WDS) is leasing a 45,000sf warehouse in the Visalia Industrial Park at 7940 W. Doe Ave. – a former Hilti spot.

With wildfires up and down California, insurance industry-funded WDS aims to reduce fire’s impacts before and as they happen, says company CEO David Torgerson. Ironically, the spread of wildfires in the Sierra is creating an economic opportunity for Visalians, like making lemonade out of lemons.

“In this era of rapidly escalating wildfire conditions, we are asking what can be done to combat the impacts of wildfire. The insurer wildfire programs that WDS serves are doing just that by providing qualified personnel and equipment to increase the survivability of policyholder properties.”

Torgerson says they plan to hire 50 to 100 “career employees” based in Visalia, in preparation for next year’s ever-earlier fire season.WDS is the largest private sector wildfire service in the nation, encompassing a 20-state service area and specializing in wildfire education, loss prevention, and wildfire response services. WDS holds contracts with insurance companies to provide wildfire loss prevention services. WDS fields experienced, highly trained, safety- focused wildfire officers and fire personnel.

This past summer WDS sent hundreds of employees to help reduce the impacts of two huge Northern California wildfire ,the Caldor Fire near Tahoe and the Dixie Fire. The Caldor Fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes and other buildings.But many were saved too.”After we get through, we help families return to their businesses and homes ”says Torgerson.

2020 was recorded as the worst year for wildfires in the state. Of course right at Visalia’s doorstep that huge southern Sierra(KNP Complex and Windy fires) saw wind swept wildfire reduced giant sequoias to ashes .CalFire says the state has suffered some 2.6 million acres burned this year.

The WDS Visalia Regional Coordination Center will respond to incidents in California and western states. Key activity in coming months will be training of service employees, he says. “We believe our jobs are symbiotic with ag jobs with our flexible work schedule and typically 9 months on the job.

The mission is to increase “structure survivability” in the face of wildfires.

Torgerson adds,“Our firefighters are the heartbeat of our company. As an employer of choice, our goal is to provide a challenging, progressive and inclusive work environment which fosters personal leadership, career growth and development for every employee. Join our team and together we will make a difference that changes the world of wildfire.” Please visit our careers page at: https://www.wildfire-defense.com/career-opportunities.html”

Many of mitigation actions are things a property owner can do, such as closing windows and garage doors, moving wood piles away from the property, clearing debris from under wood decks, clearing gutters, and removing debris from rooftops. Services may vary, but WDS people may set up and operate sprinkler systems, apply retardant firebreaks or even apply fire- blocking gel to structures. After the fire sweeps through the area, WDS will return to policyholder properties to make sure no spot fires are smoldering that still could cause damage.

WDS emphasizes their employees are not first responders.They typically engage on the second day of the incident.

caption – WDS workers at California wildfire

-December 12,2021-

NWS forecast shows impressive rain and snow totals for the southern Sierra with the storms coming in through Dec 17. More on their way too.

 

$7.8 MILLION GRANT AWARD WILL EXPAND FUTURE OF PLAY IN VISALIA

-December 8,2021-

Thanks to a $7.8 million dollar grant from the State of California’s Office of Grants and Local Services, Visalia will be the future home of the southern Central Valley’s first inclusive play space.

The 1.25 acre plus linear park will be adjacent to Downtown Visalia Children’s Museum at Oak St and Burke – the entrance to the new Civic Center area.

“Today’s grant announcement marks a step forward for our community, it is the culmination of community support, citizen feedback and strong partnerships,” shared Mayor Steve Nelsen. “This grant will allow us to create Visalia’s first inclusive playground, a playground that will truly be built to serve children of all abilities.”

Visalia is one of 112 grantees announced as recipients of funding from the State of California’s Proposition 68 Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program. Over 450 applications were received from throughout California.

“Bridge Horizons Play Park will change the way we view play, it will be a gift to the City of Visalia,” provided Jeremy Rogers, Community Services Director. “The vision and feedback from our residents, our City Council and all those who took part in helping us prepare and apply for this funding brought us to this historic day.”

The park will be east of ImagineU Children’s Museum, along the Mill Creek Trail, a community asset that should draw families to the area.

A celebration of Visalia’s heritage with a look towards the future, the Park will consist of three main sections. The sensory rich exploration areas of the Sequoia Grove Inclusive Playground will be home to a rootball cozy space, a Sequoia tree hut, a sensory wall, and a sensory dome cone.

The Music and Story Meadow will be a community centered, and child directed experience, with dance chimes, a singing stone, and an outdoor stage. The River Bottom Water Play Zone will be powered by kids, not electricity, and feature interactive climbing features, spouts, spray zones and more.

Planned in partnership with Unlimited Play, Inc., Bridge Horizons Play Park will serve the entire community.

“Our planning partners at Unlimited Play have really shown us how the benefits of inclusive playgrounds extend to able-bodied children as well,” added Rogers. “This will be a space where children learn and grow from interacting with others who are in some ways different from them. It also allows adults with disabilities to play in spaces with their children. It will be a space that is truly for everyone.”

-December 8,2021-

The start-up luxury car maker, Faraday Future, who chose Hanford to launch a new electric car, held an investor video call from their manufacturing plant in the Hanford Industrial Park this week. The investor update came after a short seller investment group charged that claims the car maker had 14,000 preorders of their vehicles was inaccurate. J. Capital released a report claiming  the 14,000 deposits were fabricated and that  78% of these reservations were made by a single undisclosed company that is likely an affiliate. Based on interviews with former Faraday executives, J. Capital also claims the FF 91’s technology is not ready to go into production. J Capital aims to drive down the price of the stock.

The charges gained traction when Faraday Future announced November 15, 2021 that the company’s board of directors formed a special committee of independent directors to investigate allegations of inaccurate disclosures.

Then Faraday was advised by Nasdaq they were not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule after it postponed their third quarter earning report ending Sept 30.In their call, they offered detail of investments in the new Hanford  manufacturing plant and new hires  although the millions in expected spending will mean capital losses for the “foreseeable future” with an expectation of profitability by 2024.

Faraday held their business update call December 7 – not commenting on the allegations but working to assure investors it was still on schedule to make cars by July and offering details on their current financial picture.The company stock has been punished in recent months going from $16.50 a share when they received their $1.1 billion in funding to just $5.70 a share this Wednesday, after the December 7 investor call. A positive note – the price of the stock was up today.

As filed with the SEC on November 15, Faraday Future expects an operating loss to increase to approximately $143 million during the three months ended September 30, 2021, as compared to approximately $18 million operating loss for the three months ended September 30, 2020. The increase is primarily driven by increased costs to bring the Hanford manufacturing facility to full commercial production, says the company.

A handful of law firms have announced they are investigating the charges  put forward by J Capital and inviting investors  to join potential litigation if they are found to be true.

Faraday Future says since inception, it has incurred cumulative losses from operations and negative cash flows from operating activities, and expects to report an accumulated deficit of approximately $2.8 billion as of September 30, 2021. On November 12, Faraday updated their estimate that it will require $1.5 billion in additional funding, up from our previous estimate of $1.4 billion. This additional capital will fund the FF 81 and FF 71 programs and is not related to the initial FF 91 program.

-December 8,2021-

Shopping malls in Hanford and Visalia are reporting holiday sales in line with what is happening across the US.

Visalia Mall manager Rick Feder sales at the town’s biggest shopping center were brisk but traffic was down 5% from pre-pandemic 2019 numbers

“Everyone beat their 2020 numbers because of COVID. Most retailers beat their Black Friday numbers compared to 2019. Traffic was 95% of what we did in 2019. In a nutshell – somewhat fewer customers but they bought more.”

Feder says the rest of the weekend was a mixed bag. Some retailers did as well as 2019 while others just missed their numbers.

At the Visalia Mall, the top five stores for overall weekend sales were Macy’s, and among smaller shops American Eagle, Foot Locker, Hollister, Hot Topic and Hollister.

“Customers were in a great mood, enjoying their holiday shopping experience.”

In Kings County, Hanford Mall was closed on Thanksgiving day with the exception of the movie theatre. Mall general manager Joanne Doerter said the mall opened its doors on Black Friday at 8:00 am however Kohl’s, JCPenney and Big 5 all opened at 6:00 am where customers were lined up for the Black Friday DoorBuster offerings.

“Shoppers were clearly more comfortable going into stores than they were last year – however, foot traffic appeared to be down approximately between 10-15% over pre-pandemic 2019 “Doerter observed.

Across the US nearly 180 million Americans shopped during the five-day holiday shopping period from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, according to the annual survey released this week by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

Shoppers for the first time in years were able to shop with friends and family pointing to how Thanksgiving shopping remains a big social affair.

Early shoppers hit the stores

“Retailers have adapted and enticed customers with a number of incentives throughout November. The Thanksgiving holiday weekend remains a significant time for friends and families to check specific holiday items off their lists,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Over the last few years consumers have shifted their holiday shopping plans to start earlier in the season.”

In total, 179.8 million unique shoppers made in-store and online purchases during the holiday weekend, exceeding NRF’s initial expectations by over 21 million. The figure compares with 186.4 million shoppers in 2020 and is in line with the average of the last four years.

The National Retail Federation reports the number of people who shopped in stores increased this year. Retailers saw an increase in foot traffic, with approximately 104.9 million shoppers visiting stores, up from 92.3 million in 2020. The overall number of online shoppers decreased to a total of 127.8 million from 145.4 million last year.

Black Friday remained the most popular day for in-store shopping, with 66.5 million shoppers, followed by 51 million +shoppers on Small Business Saturday. The importance of supporting local businesses remained top of mind for many consumers, with 71 percent indicating they were shopping specifically for Small Business Saturday. Similar to recent years, Black Friday surpassed Cyber Monday in terms of total online shoppers, with 88 million shopping online the Friday after Thanksgiving compared with 77 million on Monday.

A few economic tidbits to give thanks for this season

-November 18,2021-

Oil prices dropping

WTI Oil prices today are down to $78 per barrel ($76 on 11/19) compared to $84 as of week earlier, a portend for lower gasoline prices at your local pump.Valley pumped oil -Midway Sunset  crude as of 11/17 is $76 per barrel compared to $82 on 11/09. US oil prices slipped to their lowest in more than a month Wednesday amid a growing number of indications that could signal more supply says a news report.Maybe the high prices are having it effect.AAA spokesman says.”With global oil demand surging this year as the pandemic has eased, we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory – some of the highest Thanksgiving gas prices on record. Americans are responding to the prices by slamming the car door shut and staying off the road.”

Market is up – Gold not much

Glad you didn’t buy gold as of January 1 of this year? If you feared our economy would collapse in 2021 you might have been encouraged to buy the precious medal. But gold is down 2% this year to-date compared to the booming S&P – up 25%!

Chance for rain in mid-California after Thanksgiving

Forecast models are pointing to a wet period November 28 -December 1 with rain over much of the state including the Central Sierra. Lets hope.

Port congestion easing

The executive director of the Port of Los Angeles says there has been improvement in the last month, including a 29% drop in cargo sitting unloaded for nine days or more.

Powering up: Electric Vehicle sales top 1 million in California

Electric vehicles hit 1M sold says the chair off the California Energy Commission. EVs are now California’s top export as energy transition drives economy he says.

Kaweah Delta sees fewer Covid patients

Today, Kaweah Delta hospital is caring for 77 patients with COVID-19 in the Medical Center – a decrease of seven since yesterday, with 21 of those patients being cared for in our ICU (the same amount as yesterday). The 77 Covid patients compares to over 120 a few weeks ago when it was the busiest hospital in the state. The hospital occupancy is currently at 98 percent (not including Labor & Delivery, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or Mother-Baby beds). Since the began reporting our hospital occupancy on Sept. 16, we have only been under 100 percent capacity a total of nine days.

Baltic index points to lower shipping prices

Easing world shipping congestion is bring down prices on freight. The closely watched Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index fell for a fifth straight session on Wednesday to its lowest in more than five months, as rates slipped across all vessel segments.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell $2,653 to $25,406.
Easing congestion at Chinese ports and thin coal cargo flows out of the Pacific are weighing on capesizes, shipbroker Intermodal said in a weekly note dated Tuesday.

Home price escalation slows

California Association of Realtors reports that California home prices continued to level off as the market moved further into the off-season,  dipping below the $800,000 benchmark for the first time in seven months. At $798,440 in October, the statewide median price was down 1.3 percent from September’s $808,890 and was up 12.3 percent from the $711,300 recorded in October 2020. The month-to-month price decline was the second in a row, and the price drop from September was on par with the long run average of -1.5 percent recorded between a September and an October in the past 42 years.

-October 23,2021-

Giant fulfillment complex planned along Hwy 99

Madera County is processing an application for a 122 acre, three million sq ft fulfillment center located at Ave 7 just north of the Fresno city limits. Named Riverwood Fulfillment center, the county issued a Notice of Preparation of a Draft EIR for the big project.No tenant name has been announced.

The five level building would feature an automated storage and retrieval system with storage units moved by low profile robotic equipment. The total floor area of the proposed facility is approximately 2,900,000 sf. The facility would operate 24-hours a day, 365 days per year. The proposed site plan includes 325 trailer stalls and approximately 1,800 parking stalls.

Costco to relocate NW Fresno store

Costco wants to relocate its NW Fresno store at Gates near Shaw and 99 in Fresno to a vacant 22.4-acre site at Herndon and N Riverside Blvd, also near Highway 99.

The city is holding a public scoping meeting that will be conducted virtually on November 2, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. Costco says they want to build a 178,223sf store and adjacent 32 pump gas station as well as an automated car wash.

Costco has three stores within the metro area and would still have the same number once the relocation happened.

The existing Costco gas station would be decommissioned, including removal of the underground storage tanks. The existing and proposed Costco sites are shown.

The project would allow Costco to expand services in the area to include a larger gas station and a car wash, as well as a loading area to facilitate last-mile home delivery of big and bulky items in the Fresno area. The Costco retail building is consistent with established zoning for the parcel; however, a re-zone and General Plan amendment would be required to permit the proposed car wash.

The project also includes a proposed General Plan amendment and rezoning to reclassify the adjacent portion of West Herndon Avenue from expressway to super arterial to allow the construction of an intersection where West Herndon Avenue meets the Arthur Avenue right-of- way. The intersection would allow project traffic to access the project site via two north-south streets, rather than solely from North Riverside Drive. This would permit easier travel for southbound drivers along North Riverside Drive, including nearby residents and visitors to the Riverside Golf Course.

Costco Wholesale facilities are operated on a membership-only basis. The warehouse and car wash hours are anticipated to be Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The fuel station would operate from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily.

The latest financial news shows the big warehouse retailer, the second largest retailer in the world behind Walmart, had comparable store sales up nine percent this latest quarter and thirteen percent for the full year.