Franchises

Car dealers -- sponsors of Little League, fixtures of Main Street, vibrant symbols of the American entrepreneurial dream -- could now prove to be the biggest threat to the future of the very industry they built. For much of the last century, in exchange for selling Detroit's new models and providing a public face to distant industrial giants, dealers were richly rewarded with a steady, lucrative business and received community respect.

The rights to "Terminator" are up for sale yet again. Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek, who acquired the science-fiction franchise in 2007 for $25 million and produced this year's sequel "Terminator Salvation," are looking to sell the rights as several companies owned by the two producers work their way through Chapter 11 reorganization. Anderson and Kubicek's Halcyon Holding Group has engaged financial advisory firm FTI Capital Advisors, pending approval by U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles, to "evaluate strategic alternatives," according to a statement.

WHO says there are too many sequels? Certainly not the movie studios. In addition to new installments in the "Spider-Man," "Shrek" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, at least four other movie franchises will offer up third episodes this summer. The highest-profile entries are George Clooney in "Ocean's 13" (June 8), Matt Damon in "The Bourne Ultimatum" (Aug. 3) and "Rush Hour 3" (Aug. 10), the first starring role for Chris Tucker since the last "Rush Hour" movie came out six years ago.

FIVE years ago, Gary Frank decided to sell his bookstore here. The Booksmith had built a fine reputation over a quarter of a century, thanks to an impressive series of author appearances and a high-traffic location in the old hippie neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury. Yet hardly anyone expressed interest. Frank was disappointed but not surprised. "Maybe they saw the future," he said.

IT'S molded, it's pressed, it's presented in a shape no panini has ever known (but a McMuffin might recognize). And yet -- it's steaming hot, has a wonderful breakfasty aroma, and there's a nice thick layer of bright green spinach along with the egg and melted cheese between pieces of bread with real substance. It's a breakfast panini, made (or rather remade) on the spot at our local Famima!! and it's one of our new grab 'n' go guilty pleasures.

The new fast-food chains are quick and colorful, with cross-cultural menus and fresh-to-L.A. formats. Here's a cheat-sheet to some of the grooviest. Where to find 'em * Chain: Pollo Campero. Family-friendly fried chicken with a Latin American touch. Where to find 'em: 14 locations from Long Beach to Panorama City; check www.campero.com/index_eng_flash.php. Owner: Pollo Campero Guatemala; also has branches in Spain, Mexico and five Central American countries.

Stan Creighton's goal of building a major veterinary-hospital chain got a big boost on Thursday: His Westlake Village-based company, National Veterinary Associates, was sold to Summit Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Summit said the deal amounted to a $128-million investment in National Veterinary, which Creighton formed in 1996 and which now owns 96 animal hospitals in 29 states. The company says it's the largest private owner of veterinary hospitals.

In Venice, where development is a dirty word and the eclecticism of Abbot Kinney Boulevard's shops and restaurants is beloved, there is a new scourge. And its name is Pinkberry. It's not that the newly arrived outpost of the wildly popular frozen dessert hasn't generated a flock of beach-side patrons. It has. But it has also drawn the ire of a group of local citizens fervently opposed to any chain store setting up shop on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.

Like many baby boomers, Mira Selbo had her first brush with fondue in an avocado-green earthenware pot her parents owned and that her older sister would haul out for parties. "Way back when," Selbo recalled, not very affectionately, "it was like melting Velveeta." That was in the '70s, when fondue (from fondre, French for "to melt") oozed its way into the American culinary consciousness.

Shave ice with attitude. That's the spin Conejo Valley moms Lisa Kudirka and Karen Bain hope will hook franchise buyers on their unconventional take on selling shave ice treats. From a glowing blue counter at their Thousand Oaks shop, bar-style beverage guns squirt chilled root beer, mango, bubble gum, green tea and other flavors atop the snow-like confections. Plasma televisions feature extreme sports bloopers. Snowboarder and surfer lingo fills the menu. High-energy music sets the mood.