University Of Southern California Of Business

Despite the state's strong economic recovery, a majority of small businesses in Southern California are struggling with flat or declining sales, with a striking one-sixth of such firms saying their revenues have fallen 10% or more in the last year, according to a survey by the Los Angeles Times and the USC Marshall School of Business. Retailers reported the most difficulty, citing competitive pressures from major chain stores, among other factors.

Despite the state's strong economic recovery, a majority of small businesses in Southern California are struggling with flat or declining sales, with a striking one-sixth of such firms saying their revenues have fallen 10% or more in the last year, according to a survey by the Los Angeles Times and the USC Marshall School of Business. Retailers reported the most difficulty, citing competitive pressures from major chain stores, among other factors.

The second annual Office Market Review and Economic Analysis Symposium, orginally scheduled for Dec. 6, has been rescheduled for Jan. 26. Sponsored by the Building Owners and Managers Assn. of Greater Los Angeles (BOMA), MetroAmerica Office Guides and the University of Southern California School of Business Administration, the all-day event will be held at the Biltmore. Information can be obtained by calling BOMA at 213/624-2181.

Microsoft Corp. is hoping that upcoming Windows 95 ads, featuring MTV-style images and a hard-driving Rolling Stones tune will strike a chord among several generations of computer users. The British rock group, around since the 1960s, is popular internationally and has a following among aging baby boomers as well as twentysomethings--the consumers Microsoft wants to reach in the $200-million global marketing campaign that gets under way next Thursday.

The latest dance craze to sweep the nation is the lambada, but at the newly opened California Earthquake Cafe in San Marcos, patrons are much more inclined to resurrect such past dance crazes as the twist, the Watusi, the mashed potato and the frug. Seven nights a week, the latest addition to North County's night life is a veritable sock hop.

Six times a year Prof. Warren Bennis and the University of Southern California School of Business Administration bring together about 30 of the area's chief executive officers for meetings with heavyweight pundits like Henry Kissinger, Peter Drucker and Robert Reich. One meeting that I attended turned out to be quite interesting, particularly after dinner.

John Goetze has a Giant headache. And Doug Remp has one the size of a Pavilion. The two men are store managers at competing super-sized supermarkets. Goetze runs a Ralphs-owned Giant store in Anaheim, and Remp is in charge of a Vons-owned Pavilions store in Westminster. It's tough enough just competing with each other in the rough-and-tumble California market.

Next year you've promised yourself, you are really going to buy a computer for your business. But didn't you make the same promise last year? Many small-business owners know that they should be shopping for a computer system but can tick off a list of reasons not to buy one: It's too expensive, it's too complicated, it will become obsolete too soon, and so on.

About the last thing Dataproducts expected to be producing this year was red ink. Two years ago, the Woodland Hills-based computer-printer manufacturer was growing fast, riding the nationwide boom in computer sales. During its 1984 fiscal year, the company's net income soared 89% to more than $26 million. Its profits, however, were erased this spring as the company fell victim to an industry slowdown. Dataproducts reported its first quarterly loss in 14 years--$19.

It is not the type of ad that wins contests. No picture. No slogan. Not even one dancing raisin. But the ad, which appeared last week on the back cover of the Nation, is raising eyebrows within the advertising industry. And it is helping to bring a seldom discussed issue to the forefront of the multibillion dollar advertising arena: ethics. The ad offers a $1,000 prize for an essay. Nothing earthshaking. But the topic is enough to shake up some tobacco industry executives.