Sender One, an indoor climbing gym, is opening its sixth Southern California location on Feb. 1 in Aliso Viejo.
The climbing facility is joining the new retail center The Commons on Aliso Creek Road.
The 24,000-square-foot Sender One will offer rope climbing, bouldering, yoga, and fitness, plus Sender City, a climbing zone just for kids.
The company co-founded by Alice Kao in 2012 emphasizes community involvement and investment. Sender One facilites are funded by dozens of investors, many of them in the communities the facilities serve. The company has five other facilities in Westwood, LAX, Playa Vista, Lakewood and Santa Ana.
Address: 26505 Aliso Creek Road
Pura Vida Miami debuts at SCP
The health-conscious Pura Vida Miami restaurant is open at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
The chain, with most of its locations in Florida, offers a variety of meals in the wellness category.
Its menu includes sandwiches, wraps, salads, fruit bowls, snacks, coffee and tea, wellness shots, smoothies and baked goods.
Before coming to Orange County, the chain had just two locations in California: one in Malibu and the other in Beverly Hills. The company also has six restaurants in New York.
Where: Level One in the Bloomingdales wing
3333 Bristol Street #1807
Is Trader Joe’s moving in Laguna Niguel?
Readers again have a hot news tip: Trader Joe’s could be moving in Laguna Niguel.
Though the Monrovia-based grocery chain declined to confirm, employees at Store No. 103 on Golden Lantern recently told shoppers the store is moving to bigger digs at the Ocean Ranch Village shopping center.
The shopping center is home to a vacant Bed Bath & Beyond, which is being redeveloped for new retail, including (maybe) a larger Trader Joe’s and possibly an Ulta beauty shop.
Readers a few months ago let us know that Trader Joe’s was opening a second store in Costa Mesa, claiming part of a former 99 Cents Only Store. Another reader let us know that TJ’s had officially moved into its expanded store in Orange where Meats Avenue meets Tustin St.
Both Trader Joe’s and Ulta are on a bit of an expansion kick. Trader Joe’s has opened at least eight stores in the region in the past year or so. Ulta, which is breaking up with Target this year, is opening more brick and mortar stores as retail continues to find its way again to old fashioned, in-person shopping.
Ulta announced last year that it was ending its in-store partnership with the bullseye-dot retailer. Shoppers should expect to see those boutiques removed from stores by August.
Panera closes in Anaheim Hills
Panera Bread has closed in Anaheim Hills.
A reader alerted us to the closure at 8152 E Santa Ana Canyon Road, saying doors were locked and nobody was home.
In other company changes, the company last year closed its break-making facilities, including one in Ontario. The chain instead switched its bread-making to a third party. In Ontario, 77 employees at the facility lost their jobs.
Panera Bread has nearly 200 cafe-bakery locations in California. The company told the Southern California News Group that it’s “shifting the California market to a newer bread-making process.”
Asian American photos sought for new museum
A new museum coming to the Great Park in Irvine is seeking images of Asian American life in Southern California for a juried photo art contest.
The Asian American Museum will feature the heritage and diverse stories of Asian American communities.
Open to professional, amateur and student photographers living in Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties the aspiration for the Color, Culture, Continuum – An Asian American Mosaic: A Juried Photography Show is to visualize the Asian American experience.
The contest is open to all photographers in the region, seeking imagery that’s representative of Asian Americans “as interpreted by the entrant.”
According to a press release: Works should explore Asian American identity, culture or lived experiences and at least one subject in the composition must be Asian American or multi-racial Asian American.
The winning photos will be displayed at South Coast Plaza (May) and the Bowers Museum (June).
Prizes for professional photographers range from $2,500 down to $500. Amateur prizes range from $500 to $100. Student prizes will go from $500 down to $100.
For rules and more details on the contest, go to asianamericanmuseumoc.org/event/mosaic
The deadline to submit is 11:59 p.m. March 31.
On the move
The law firm Jackson Lewis PC has promoted Nikki L. Wilson Crary and Kimberley L. Litzler to principal, effective Jan. 1, in the Irvine office. Wilson Crary’s practice focuses on employment litigation on behalf of management in Title IX Compliance, sports compliance, health and safety issues in sports, NAIA and NCAA compliance. Litzler specializes in representing employers in a broad range of employment law matters.
Status Update is compiled and written by Business Editor Samantha Gowen. Submit items and high-resolution photos to sgowen@scng.com. Allow at least one week for publication. Items are edited for length and clarity.
