GA Technologies Still for Sale

It may be five or six more weeks before Chevron’s sale of its GA Technologies in La Jolla is completed. That’s the word after a meeting of the six-member GA Technologies board earlier this month.

“The board won’t announce anything until they have a signed contract,” said one GA Technologies official, adding that it might be late January before an announcement is made.

Kona Kai Club Attracts Some Interest

The Kona Kai Club, purchased in May from longtime owners Bernard and William Lipin, is drawing buyer interest. Or at least a partial interest.

Aircoa, a large hotel chain, has visited the Kona Kai a couple of times and has discussed the possibility of buying a half-interest in the landmark 12-acre Shelter Island resort. Coincidentally, Aircoa owns the Kona Inn in Hawaii.

Current owners Bill DeLeeuw and Dale Rorabaugh bought the 31-year-old club in May for $15 million and have said they plan to sink an additional $17.5 million into it over the next five years. Industry sources say that if a deal goes through, DeLeeuw would retain his interest in the Kona Kai.

Nothing Fails Like Failure

When San Diego’s California Heritage Bank was shut down and seized by regulators last month, it marked the 108th bank failure in the nation this year. Since then, two more have gone under. Before year’s end, banking officials maintain, the number of failures will reach 130.

‘Delayed Cash Delivery’

The state Department of Corporations’ federal lawsuit against Trinity Metals Exchange of Kansas City probably will be decided later this week, according to state officials.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month, alleges that Trinity, which has an office in San Diego, offered and sold investments in precious metals without being registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “Millions of dollars” are involved, state officials contend.

Trinity, which offers gold, silver and platinum, has denied allegations that it sold futures contracts. Instead, the company offered “delayed cash delivery--a layaway, similar to buying a washing machine,” according to John Duncan, manager of Trinity’s San Diego office.

Government officials were “demanding that we stop business immediately, but, obviously, we’re still here doing business,” Duncan added. The local office has more than 400 clients, Duncan said.

Celebrating High Counterculture

This may be remembered as the year of the off-beat game in San Diego. First there were Love Cubes, which are a pair of acrylic dice designed for a couple to throw in private. Now comes Party Trivia, a board game that contains more than 2,500 questions about drinking, drugs, sex, rock ‘n’ roll, counterculture and celebrity tidbits. The game is made and distributed by two San Diego County men who call their company The Hedon Corp.--named, they say, for “hedonistic.”

All Dolled Up

Jinger LaGuardia has learned the hard way how to take an idea and market it successfully. LaGuardia, a mother of three small children, created what she calls The Guardian Angel, a pillow doll that retails for $19.95. She wanted the product available for the holiday season in large retail chains, which typically would require that the product be delivered in late summer. But, alas, production was delayed at the Taiwan plant that makes the dolls, and she took delivery of the dolls in October. She is undeterred, however. Marketing the product herself, LaGuardia has sold 1,000 of the dolls and said she plans to order more when her current inventory of 2,500 runs out.