A 1970s office building across the street from a light-rail station in El Segundo has sold for $11.3 million to Los Angeles investors who plan to boost its appeal to tenants in creative fields.

Montana Avenue Capital bought the Station, as the building at 2201 E. El Segundo Blvd. is known, from a limited liability company called LA Venture VI, real estate brokerage JLL said.

Montana Avenue Capital will invest “significant” capital to redevelop the empty 52,000-square-foot office property into a Class A creative-style office campus with modern workplace technology and various outdoor work spaces, JLL said.

The campus will also offer collaborative open space throughout the interior, surface parking with private tenant entrances and space for tenants to put their company signs on top or at grade level.

QUIZ: California's biggest business news stories for 2013

“The Station will offer new-economy companies an opportunity to occupy collaborative space in a building where...

The George Clooneys and Jon Hamms of the world have an easier time getting a table at a crowded restaurant or arguing for a promotion. Turns out, a pretty face also helps when pitching investors on business ideas.

Handsome guys are much more likely to convince investors to back their business proposals, according to a new study. And men in general tend to do better than women at getting financing for their ideas.

PHOTOS: World's most expensive cities

Researchers from the business schools at MIT, Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania took a look at business pitches in real life at “entrepreneurial pitch competitions” and also in controlled experiments where men and women presented the same content.

“Attractive males are particularly persuasive,” the study concluded.

PHOTOS: Richest and poorest cities in America

The study, published online by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also found that the attractiveness quotient...

Amid the final frenzy for Obamacare enrollment, a new survey shows that many consumers may be ill-equipped to shop for health insurance.

A study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that 42% of people surveyed could not describe a deductible and 39% didn't understand the relationship between a premium and deductible.

Sixty-two percent didn't know that an HMO is more restrictive on choosing doctors than a PPO, or preferred-provider organization plan. 

The results were drawn from a national survey of about 3,400 people in August and September before enrollment started under the Affordable Care Act.

Full coverage: Obamacare rolls out

Silvia Barcellos, the study's lead author and an economist at USC, said the lack of information has likely hurt overall enrollment in the federal and state exchanges.

The healthcare law requires that most Americans have medical insurance in 2014 or pay a penalty. March 31 is the last day to sign up for individual...

GrubHub, the Chicago online takeout ordering company, on Monday set a price range for its initial public offering at $20 to $22 a share, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

That would value the company, which merged with competitor Seamless last August, at $1.72 billion.

GrubHub said it planned to sell more than 7 million shares during its IPO. The raised capital would be used for general operational purposes, the company said. 

GrubHub, founded in 2004, offers customers the ability to place orders online or from their mobile devices using an app. 

In 2013, the company reported revenue of $137.1 million, up 67% from 2012, according to its SEC filing. It counts more than 28,000 restaurants in the U.S. and London among eateries that allow diners to order online.

The company plans to list its ticker as GRUB on the New York Stock Exchange. 

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The percentage of Americans who drink a daily cup of coffee fell last year to 61% from 63% in 2012, a leading trade group said Saturday.

The National Coffee Assn. of USA, however, also reported that Americans are choosier about how they get their java fix: The study found a sharp increase in Americans drinking espresso-based drinks, such as lattes and cappuccinos. This segment rose to 18% in 2013, up from 13% the year before.

The trade group's yearly study, conducted since 1950, showed that fewer Americans are using typical drip coffee makers. The study found that 37% of Americans drank a cup of coffee made in a drip coffee brewer in the past day. That's down from 43% in 2012.

As the traditional drip maker sees its use waning, single-cup coffee brewers have become more popular. 

The rate of Americans drinking coffee made from single-cup brewing machines jumped to 13% in 2013, up from 4% the year before, the trade group said. 

Coffee drinking habits varied across age groups measured in...

Pearl visited a Wal-Mart recently in search of healing ointment. She found a container of Aquaphor.

And nearby she spotted a container of Baby Aquaphor.

ASK LAZ: Smart answers to consumer questions

Original Aquaphor was selling for $14.26.

Baby Aquaphor was selling for $14.97.

Why the difference?

The answer has to be in the ingredients of both products, right? I checked and you can share what I found in today's Ask Laz video.

If you have a consumer question, email me at asklaz@latimes.com or contact me via Twitter @Davidlaz.

Carl Icahn is fattening up on Herbalife, gobbling up three more seats on the company's board.

The nutritional-products company announced Monday that it has agreed to nominate three more Icahn representatives to its board of directors, potentially giving the activist investor five members of Herbalife's 13-person board.

Two employees of Icahn Enterprises, Hunter C. Gary and Jesse A. Lynn, will be put up for election, as will James L. Nelson, an independent director of Icahn's company.

QUIZ: California's biggest business news stories for 2013

“This is a very positive agreement and we appreciate the Icahn Parties’ shared confidence in Herbalife’s continued success,” Michael O. Johnson, Herbalife chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

Shareholders will vote on the...

The trade publication reported Monday that it counted about 3,000 new jobs added to the home lending industry during the quarter, resulting in a net loss of 19,000 jobs.

It said that for all of 2013, mortgage staffing declined by 31,931 employees -- the worst year since 2008.

QUIZ: California's biggest business news stories for 2013

California experienced nearly 3,000 more firings than hirings in the fourth quarter -- a bigger loss than any other state. 

The nation's Top 3 mortgage lenders swung the biggest axes during the quarter: Wells Fargo & Co. slashed more than 6,000 jobs, Bank of America Corp. 4,000, and JPMorgan Chase & Co.  nearly 4,000, Mortgage Daily said.

When interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgages jumped by about a percentage point last year, a refinancing boom came to an end and the home lending business became smaller...

Nu Skin Enterprises, a Utah company that sells anti-aging cosmetics and nutritional supplements, was fined more than $500,000 by Chinese regulators over allegations that it violated direct selling laws and that six Nu Skin distributors made misleading claims promoting products.

The regulatory action ends a probe that began in January, when China's State Administration for Industry & Commerce began investigating the company following media reports.

"We continue to believe in the potential of China's large and growing market," said Dan Chard, Nu Skin's president of global sales and operations, in a statement. "We remain committed to working cooperatively with the Chinese government to ensure the healthy, long-term growth of our business."

Nu Skin was fined $524,00 for illegally conducting direct sales. The company was fined an additional $16,000 for product claims that Chinese regulators said did not have enough evidence. Six Nu Skin sales employees were fined a combined $241,000 for...

WASHINGTON -- Economists for U.S. businesses are more optimistic about the recovery than they were three months ago, forecasting growth to accelerate this year after a slow start caused by severe winter weather.

The media projection in the quarterly survey by the National Assn. of Business Economics, released Monday, is for the economy to expand at a 2.8% annual rate this year. The figure is up from a projection of 2.5% in December.

The economy expanded at a 1.9% annual rate last year.

PHOTOS: Federal Reserve chairs through the years

The improved outlook comes despite respondents saying the bitter cold and snow in much of the country would reduce total economic output -- or gross domestic product -- in the first three months of the year by 0.4%.

“Despite a challenging start to the year in which adverse weather conditions will likely shave nearly one half of one percentage point from first-quarter real GDP growth, NABE’s March 2014 Outlook Survey panel expects the pace of...

WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew will undergo outpatient surgery to treat a benign enlarged prostate and will be sidelined for about a week, a department spokeswoman said Sunday.

Lew, 58, will have the procedure Tuesday in New York and expects to remain at his home there the rest of the week, said Treasury spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth Earnest.

"His physician expects that he will be able to return to his full schedule next week," Earnest said.

PHOTOS: Federal Reserve chairs through the years

Lew has been Treasury secretary since February 2013, moving to the job after serving as White House chief of staff.

He is one of President Obama's top Cabinet officials and has been involved in recent weeks in helping craft sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea.

The prostate problem was an issue for Lew on an official trip to Mexico City last week. Lew received outpatient treatment at a hospital there Tuesday for what a Treasury spokesman described at the time as "a minor...

More and more air travelers are buying expensive first-class and business-class seats, and airlines are coming up with some creative amenities to keep those big spenders happy.

That includes scented pillows and chauffeur-driven SUVs.

The number of passengers buying expensive premium seats jumped 4% in 2013 and continued to grow thanks to improved business conditions around the world, according to the International Air Transport Assn., the trade group for the world’s airlines.

To serve the well-heeled travelers, United Airlines recently announced it is expanding a service that takes elite fliers straight from one plane to a connecting flight in a chauffeured Mercedes Benz SUV.

The service that has been offered at airports in Chicago, Houston and New Jersey will be expanded this spring to San Francisco International Airport.

Meanwhile, Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has launched a program to improve sleep for long-haul fliers.

It offers mood...