Andrew Jergens Co

Bausch & Lomb Inc. agreed to sell its skin-care business to Andrew Jergens Co., a maker of skin-care products, for $135 million and the assumption of certain liabilities. Bausch & Lomb's skin-care business consists of Curel, a line of therapeutic skin-moisturizing products, and Soft Sense moisturizing lotion. Jergens is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese consumer products company Kao Corp. It markets Kao's Biore line as well as Jergens skin-care products in the United States. Rochester, N.Y.

The Andrew Jergens Co. said last week it will close its manufacturing plant in Burbank on Oct. 25 because renovations to improve its productivity aren't worth the money. The California property is to be sold, the company said. The closing will affect 88 employees. Jergens said it would focus its investments and increase production at its main plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the company has its headquarters and about 500 employees.

The Andrew Jergens Co. said last week it will close its manufacturing plant in Burbank on Oct. 25 because renovations to improve its productivity aren't worth the money. The California property is to be sold, the company said. The closing will affect 88 employees. Jergens said it would focus its investments and increase production at its main plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the company has its headquarters and about 500 employees.

Bausch & Lomb Inc. agreed to sell its skin-care business to Andrew Jergens Co., a maker of skin-care products, for $135 million and the assumption of certain liabilities. Bausch & Lomb's skin-care business consists of Curel, a line of therapeutic skin-moisturizing products, and Soft Sense moisturizing lotion. Jergens is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese consumer products company Kao Corp. It markets Kao's Biore line as well as Jergens skin-care products in the United States. Rochester, N.Y.

Granny Goose Foods, a small regional producer of potato chips and other salty snacks, has developed a taste for Sunshine Biscuits, the nation's third-largest cookie and cracker maker. In fact, Oakland-based G. F. Industries, parent of Granny Goose Foods, plans to swallow the larger company whole. Under a merger agreement announced Monday, G. F.

No matter who wins the election on Feb. 23, the Burbank City Council is going to have a new majority. A record 22 candidates have filed to run for three seats on the five-member council, and none is an incumbent, City Clerk Marge Lauerman said Friday. Seven other candidates are running for four other offices in Burbank, including city clerk, city treasurer and two seats on the school board. "It's the most candidates we've ever had," Lauerman said.

The recent ban on smoking during domestic airline flights of six hours or less can make life tough for the estimated 50 million American adults--about 27% of the adult population--who haven't yet kicked the cigarette habit. But a nasal nicotine spray--an aid now being tested locally--may help. The unnamed spray works faster than nicotine patches or gum, said Nina Schneider, chief of the nicotine dependence research unit at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Brentwood.

Reeling from the historic decline of Southern California's defense industry and hemorrhaging jobs, the city of Burbank spent 1992 obsessed with one subject--development. The obsession will carry over into 1993--the desire for development pitted against the fear of excessive growth are the dominant issues of the Burbank City Council elections scheduled for February. "Our priority is clearly to increase economic development," City Manager Robert Ovrom said recently.

After more than 30 years of moving up through the ranks at various chemical companies, Kenneth Wattman retired in 1987. The New Jersey native thought he was going to settle down to a quiet life of fly-fishing. It didn't last. Wattman, 67, now works for a big Japanese manufacturing conglomerate and has so many titles, he can't remember them all. The major ones are: president and board member of Kao Corp. of America (KCOA) and special adviser to the president of Kao Corp.

Where have all the Valley jobs gone? Utah. Nevada. Mexico. Idaho. Oklahoma. Kentucky. They are some of the winners in the economic tug-of-war California has been losing, as companies in the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County have moved facilities out of state to manufacture more cost-efficiently, or have relocated altogether. Since the mid-1990 employment peak, California on the whole has lost between 400,000 and 600,000 jobs, most of them in manufacturing, construction and retailing.