True… I wish we had a Jalapeno’s like Woodbury… or better yet… Albertos… hehe.

irvine_home_owner - 09 March 2009 05:40 AM

True… I wish we had a Jalapeno’s like Woodbury… or better yet… Albertos… hehe.

Albertos is a bigger pipe dream than Wahoos.  haha One of my clients actually knows a Flame Broiler franchisee so I may just give him a call and see what he can do.

usctrojanman29 - 09 March 2009 05:29 AM

irvine_home_owner - 04 March 2009 09:00 PM

Wahoos won’t happen as long as Sharky’s is there.

That’s like asking for Subway… or Aloha Hawaiian.

Screw Sharky’s, that place blows too.  I’ve never suck bland, dry mexican food in my life.  Maybe Flame Broiler can come to the center.

Been to Sharky`s only once myself. YUCK. Better off at Del Taco IMO.
I agree on the word BLAND. I dont know how that places has stayed in business this long.

Of all the little restaurants in that center. The Natraj Indian food is my pick.
Great for a lunch with the bread and the hot sauce over chicken. The Indian beer is just right to offset the heat of the curry.

bltserv - 09 March 2009 04:26 PM

usctrojanman29 - 09 March 2009 05:29 AM

irvine_home_owner - 04 March 2009 09:00 PM

Wahoos won’t happen as long as Sharky’s is there.

That’s like asking for Subway… or Aloha Hawaiian.

Screw Sharky’s, that place blows too.  I’ve never suck bland, dry mexican food in my life.  Maybe Flame Broiler can come to the center.

Been to Sharky`s only once myself. YUCK. Better off at Del Taco IMO.
I agree on the word BLAND. I dont know how that places has stayed in business this long.

Of all the little restaurants in that center. The Natraj Indian food is my pick.
Great for a lunch with the bread and the hot sauce over chicken. The Indian beer is just right to offset the heat of the curry.

Never tried that Indian place, I’ll give it a go this week.

irvine_home_owner - 04 March 2009 07:17 PM

acpme - 04 March 2009 04:44 PM

i really like thai bamboo.  it’s quite pricey though and sometimes their dishes get too heavy and saucy, but that can be said of a lot of irvine asian restaurants.  i hope they stick around.  their location at the district has very slow business too.

Same here… the Far East Fried Rice is awesome.

And they have this rice soup they only serve at lunch that is quite tasty.

Much better than Thai Spice.

Agreed.  Try the black pepper steak!

I think the writers at the OC Register read the this forum.

Recession rolls into upscale Irvine shopping center

IRVINE – Cars filled the lot, groups ate in the shade and others sipped from Starbucks cups at Quail Hill Village Center on a recent lunch hour. Behind store windows, though, some merchants said their days might be numbered.

Three out of 37 shops have closed in the past year, several leases are nearing an end, and owners are changing the way they do business at Quail Hill. Sluggish sales, hard-to-get credit and other factors have depressed retail markets elsewhere in the world. At this upscale Irvine Co. marketplace, the bad economy is just beginning to make a dent.

The neighboring village, also called Quail Hill, has seen relatively few bank repossessions, but a wave may be on the way. Seven homes out of 1,646 are in foreclosure, fourteen have defaulted and seven others are up for auction, according to foreclosureradar.com.

ABC123 - 13 March 2009 02:49 AM

I think the writers at the OC Register read the this forum.

Recession rolls into upscale Irvine shopping center

IRVINE – Cars filled the lot, groups ate in the shade and others sipped from Starbucks cups at Quail Hill Village Center on a recent lunch hour. Behind store windows, though, some merchants said their days might be numbered.

Three out of 37 shops have closed in the past year, several leases are nearing an end, and owners are changing the way they do business at Quail Hill. Sluggish sales, hard-to-get credit and other factors have depressed retail markets elsewhere in the world. At this upscale Irvine Co. marketplace, the bad economy is just beginning to make a dent.

The neighboring village, also called Quail Hill, has seen relatively few bank repossessions, but a wave may be on the way. Seven homes out of 1,646 are in foreclosure, fourteen have defaulted and seven others are up for auction, according to foreclosureradar.com.

Looks like Juice It Up will be closing up shop in April.

usctrojanman29 - 13 March 2009 04:33 AM

ABC123 - 13 March 2009 02:49 AM

I think the writers at the OC Register read the this forum.

Recession rolls into upscale Irvine shopping center

IRVINE – Cars filled the lot, groups ate in the shade and others sipped from Starbucks cups at Quail Hill Village Center on a recent lunch hour. Behind store windows, though, some merchants said their days might be numbered.

Three out of 37 shops have closed in the past year, several leases are nearing an end, and owners are changing the way they do business at Quail Hill. Sluggish sales, hard-to-get credit and other factors have depressed retail markets elsewhere in the world. At this upscale Irvine Co. marketplace, the bad economy is just beginning to make a dent.

The neighboring village, also called Quail Hill, has seen relatively few bank repossessions, but a wave may be on the way. Seven homes out of 1,646 are in foreclosure, fourteen have defaulted and seven others are up for auction, according to foreclosureradar.com.

Looks like Juice It Up will be closing up shop in April.

Tough times for all those in the Quail Hills Center. Lets see how TIC reacts.
At a point all the empty business windows will have an effect on the ability
to sustain rents and sales in the neighorhood.

I’ve never really understood how TIC thinks they can get away with $4+ per sft in Irvine (if they even go that cheap anymore).

So many bubbles… tech, RE, mortgage, stock and TIC retail leasing.

irvine_home_owner - 13 March 2009 06:45 AM

I’ve never really understood how TIC thinks they can get away with $4+ per sft in Irvine (if they even go that cheap anymore).

So many bubbles… tech, RE, mortgage, stock and TIC retail leasing.

Well, the retailers basically thought that they had a captive audience (residents with money to spend) and were willing to pay whatever it took to be in the Irvine Ranch….sound familar?  It’s the “I better lease this space now for the going rate or I’ll be priced out of the great Irvine retail market” mentality.  Not that spending has slowed down, these retailers are beginning to realize that their business models don’t fly on 20-50% decline in sales.  Unfortunately, this is just the start of small retailers going dark in Irvine.

this thread has been hijacked, so i won’t feel bad for saying non-food stuff.

do we really need 3 banks (BoA, WaMu, Wells Fargo) and 1 credit union (Kinecta) in this little shopping center?  quail hill is so small it can’t fully fill alderwood without non-QH students (told by school admin).  someone must think there is mucho $$$ sitting in shady somewhere.

re the empty spaces, i hope they will stuff more restaurants there…

Yeah… when BofA was first being built… I thought it was a fast-food joint because it had a drive-thru… then when they put the ‘Coming Soon’ sign up… I thought “Another bank?”.

almon - 19 March 2009 04:27 AM

this thread has been hijacked, so i won’t feel bad for saying non-food stuff.

do we really need 3 banks (BoA, WaMu, Wells Fargo) and 1 credit union (Kinecta) in this little shopping center?  quail hill is so small it can’t fully fill alderwood without non-QH students (told by school admin).  someone must think there is mucho $$$ sitting in shady somewhere.

re the empty spaces, i hope they will stuff more restaurants there…

We got some money in Woodbury too…3 banks: Wells, Citi, and BofA. Well maybe not real money, since all the homes are underwater and all the banks were all bailed out by Obama. We are just missing a credit union to compete with QH But…we do have the Trader Joe’s and The Counter.

usctrojanman29 - 13 March 2009 07:11 AM

irvine_home_owner - 13 March 2009 06:45 AM

I’ve never really understood how TIC thinks they can get away with $4+ per sft in Irvine (if they even go that cheap anymore).

So many bubbles… tech, RE, mortgage, stock and TIC retail leasing.

Well, the retailers basically thought that they had a captive audience (residents with money to spend) and were willing to pay whatever it took to be in the Irvine Ranch….sound familar?  It’s the “I better lease this space now for the going rate or I’ll be priced out of the great Irvine retail market” mentality.  Not that spending has slowed down, these retailers are beginning to realize that their business models don’t fly on 20-50% decline in sales.  Unfortunately, this is just the start of small retailers going dark in Irvine.

You nailed it.
Well said

I guess this is the “Quail Hill Center Thread” now.

That damn cleaners is about to lose my business. It sure aint “My Favorite Cleaners”.

When I moved in she was charging about $ 4.50 a shirt for Dry Cleaning
my good Tommy Bahama Shirts. Thats was $ 1.50 more than my old cleaner in Orange.
But they came out nicer and it was convienent/close.

Then she jacked it to $5.00 then $5.50 then $6.00. I went to get my shirts the
other day. She is now at $ 7.00.  I guess if you have a million dollar home in Shady
its no biggy. But its an insult to charge that much to dry clean a shirt IMO.

And did the dry cleaners pick the most inconvenient location or what?

They would have been better served on the side next to Starbucks (like where the postal center is) because at least there is parking right in front.

Parking where they currently are is so horrible because all the diners/nail patrons park there.

Go try Sunny Fresh Cleaners (next to Ralph’s at Alton & Jeffrey).  Very organized, cheaper, and good quality.  If you get that big envelope of coupons, they usually have one for Sunny Fresh Cleaners in there.

Anonymous - 19 March 2009 07:19 PM

Go try Sunny Fresh Cleaners (next to Ralph’s at Alton & Jeffrey).  Very organized, cheaper, and good quality.  If you get that big envelope of coupons, they usually have one for Sunny Fresh Cleaners in there.

Thanks Much.
That was my next question. Whats close and IHB approved.

The art/frame gallery store in QH is liquidating I believe as well so that’s a sure fire sign they are closing or at least relocating. They had everything at 50% off the other day but will ramp up to 70% I believe. I didn’t see anything I liked that was worth the money imo but different strokes…

I do wonder how some stores exist with such high TIC leases.

- Frame stores
- Shoe repair
- Postal center (non-UPS owned)
- Carpet/flooring
- Quiznos (hehe)

Nice title-fu BTW.

I wouldn’t be suprised if a few of those retailers were gonna go dark…we know Juice It Up is out in April but I think Dogma and a few other ones have to be on death watch because I never see anyone in them.

Since the title changed, I guess this link goes here too:

Recession rolls into upscale Irvine shopping center
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/irvine-orange-county-2332326-retail-quail

This little tidbit sounds like someone from IHB wrote it:

The neighboring village, also called Quail Hill, has seen relatively few bank repossessions, but a wave may be on the way. Seven homes out of 1,646 are in foreclosure, fourteen have defaulted and seven others are up for auction, according to foreclosureradar.com.

irvine_home_owner - 19 March 2009 06:24 AM

Yeah… when BofA was first being built… I thought it was a fast-food joint because it had a drive-thru… then when they put the ‘Coming Soon’ sign up… I thought “Another bank?”.

rumor had it the BoA spot was for In-n-Out, then it bailed for some reason.

that nail salon is super-jammed every time i walk by, i hope it’ll expand to five times its current size, then become the biggest cougar-hunting ground in irvine

a fancy restaurant would be nice (hey TIC, are you reading this???)

almon - 20 March 2009 04:32 AM

irvine_home_owner - 19 March 2009 06:24 AM

Yeah… when BofA was first being built… I thought it was a fast-food joint because it had a drive-thru… then when they put the ‘Coming Soon’ sign up… I thought “Another bank?”.

rumor had it the BoA spot was for In-n-Out, then it bailed for some reason.

that nail salon is super-jammed every time i walk by, i hope it’ll expand to five times its current size, then become the biggest cougar-hunting ground in irvine

a fancy restaurant would be nice (hey TIC, are you reading this???)

Could you image the traffic nightmare with an In’N'Out there???  But then again I’d probably be eating there every night.  haha

I think if they want to see more business in that shopping center, they should remove the gates at Shady Canyon so UCI students and staff can have direct access.  Of course, this would probably make Turtle Rock Residents scream.