Topics / BUSINESS : Sales Flatten Out at City Haul Store

At first, the city of West Covina’s City Haul store at Eastland Shopping Center was raking in the bucks: Last Christmas shopping season, the city sold about $24,000 worth of new and used city paraphernalia, including street signs, manhole covers and parking meters.

That left the city with about $13,000 in profit for its first six weeks in the retail business. But since Jan. 1, the store has not turned a profit. It has, however, come close to breaking even, officials report. Overhead runs about $4,000 a month.

City officials say they had anticipated a post-holiday sales drop and now hope that sales will pick up as word of the store spreads among local residents and collectors from throughout the Southland.

The store has been stocked with such items as vintage parking meters plucked off the streets of Las Vegas, plus items such as West Covina traffic signals and fire hydrants.

City Haul opened in November. The city also recently began selling selected City Haul items from a cart at the Plaza at West Covina.

New Shop Offers Upscale Lingerie

In the frugal ‘90s, $2,000 designer suits for women are a tough sell. But the owner of a new San Marino store figures that women who sleep in fine silk will still fork out a couple of hundred dollars for lingerie stitched in Paris or New York.

Last week, Patricia Soto Lee opened her Patricia’s of San Marino lingerie shop in Old Town San Marino, 2529 Mission St.

Patricia’s also specializes in lounge wear and bedding. Prices range from $50 for a silk nightshirt to $1,000 for fine bedding from Italy.

Soto, a 35-year-old Alhambra resident, other stores nearby sell lingerie, but outlets such as Victoria’s Secret tend to cater to younger women and don’t offer a comparable selection of lounge wear and bedding.

Stock Watch

Among 24 of the largest San Gabriel Valley-based companies traded on the New York and American stock exchanges and NASDAQ, one gained value, 21 lost and two remained unchanged Tuesday compared with the same day last week. Here’s how six fared.

Tue. Point Company Price Change GAINERS Southern California Water $19.00 + 1/2 LOSERS Wesco Financial Corp. 126.50 -3 1/2 Marshall Industries 23.88 -1 7/8 Conversion Industries Inc. 7.25 -1 5/8 Calmat 19.38 -1 5/8 International Aluminum 25.63 -1 1/8

Source: Joe Lamas of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., Pasadena