Inside East Valley Business

Marketside grocery stores open for business Oct. 4, making them the most recent player to the Valley - one of the nation’s most crowded markets in the grocery industry.

The four Marketside stores opening in Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler, will serve as test subjects for their Bentonville Ark.-based parent company, Wal-Mart Stores.

The neighborhood-centric grocery store, roughly the size of two Circle K stores, aims to provide fresh, low-priced groceries with fast in-and-out service.

The four Marketplaces are at Elliot and Cooper roads in Gilbert, Baseline and Sossaman roads in Mesa, Ray and McQueen roads in Chandler, and Elliot and Rural roads in Tempe.

Tribune file Photo This Marketside grocery store at Ray and McQeen roads in Chandler is one of four locations being tested by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

At 6.percent, U.S. unemployment stands at a five-year high and the nation has lost more than 600,000 jobs since December, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Researcher Emily Garr shows that even in the states that gained jobs this year there has been plenty of pain to go around. In Texas, which gained more jobs than any other state, unemployment rose from 4.2 percent to 5 percent since December. Out of 22 states that gained jobs, unemployment rose in all but two.

Since December, Arizona has lost 35,200 jobs, including 3,000 manufacturing jobs, according to the institute. Unemployment stood at 5.6 percent last month.

The slumping economy doesn’t seem to be holding back progress on Tempe Gateway, an 8-story building underway near the light rail in downtown Tempe.

The developer said it’s negotiating leases on 76 percent of the project’s ground-floor retail space.

The project is due to open early next year. When finished, it will bring 25,000 square-feet of stores and restaurants, 235,000 square-feet of office space and 1,000 sorely-needed parking spaces in an above-ground parking garage.

Courtesy of Opus West Corp.

General Motors Corp. will give away five new Saturn Astras.

All you have to do is kiss one for possibly several hours. Maybe even several days.

The last person to undo his or her lip lock with one of the Saturn Astras on display around the Valley will get to drive it away.

The Kiss My Astra Contest is on Saturday and Sunday at the following locations:

Chandler Fashion Center
Chandler Boulevard and Loop 101
Chandler
Saturday, 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

Gilbert Summer Fest
Guadalupe and Lindsay Roads
Gilbert
Saturday, 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.

Arrowhead Mall
Bell Road and Loop 101
Glendale
Saturday, 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Scottsdale Fashion Square
Camelback and Scottsdale roads
Scottsdale
Sunday, 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

Desert Ridge Marketplace
Tatum Boulevard and Loop 101
Phoenix
Sunday, 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

A microbrewery is planned on Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe, a city official said.

Chris Salomone, the city’s community development manager, said the brewery is planned for a vacant pad inside the half-empty Centerpoint On Mill development, which city officials have been pressuring Scottsdale-based DMB to fill.

He didn’t know the size.

“It looked like a … good-size facility,” he said.

Salomone said the lease could be up to 10 years, with buy-out provisions in case DMB wants to redevelop the land.

Chris Wilson, former vice president of the Downtown Tempe Community, said he’s about 15 days away from finalizing a lease agreement for the microbrewery and hopes to open by year’s end, but he wouldn’t disclose details including the location.

Dave’s Electric Brewery is microbrewery in Bisbee. Wilson said he’s partnered with the owner, but wouldn’t discuss the specifics of the arrangements.

A message left with Dave’s Electric Brewery wasn’t returned.

Wilson said he’s not afraid of the competition with nearby Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, which is at Mill and 5th Street.

“Our concept is totally unique,” he said.

Hyundai of Tempe will pay $15,000 as part of settlement with the Arizona Attorney General’s office, which alleged the dealership engaged in deceptive advertising.

The dealership also agreed it will “not engage in any false or deceptive advertising,” and will “clearly and conspicuously disclose all material facts, terms and conditions relating to any offer it makes to the public,” according to a press release.

Officials say the dealership mailed fliers to consumers, saying they would get the total Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price, or MSRP, for their trade-in vehicles.

State officials allege the advertisement was misleading because the flier went on to say that “trade-in allowance not to exceed current NADA book retail value” and “your current vehicle must be in safe operating condition with normal wear and tear. The only adjustments will be made for mileage and reconditioning.”

Officials say NADA book retail value is based on a vehicle’s mileage and condition.

“No consumer could receive 100 percent of his or her base MSRP on a trade-in since deductions would be taken for mileage and overall condition,” the press release said.

Cox Communication said it has started testing a new hybrid electric service truck in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.
The truck produces an average fuel economy gain of 30 to 150 percent over conventional fuel-only vehicles, the cable system operator said.
The bucket truck’s hybrid engine allows it to hoist workers aloft for up to two hours without running its diesel engine. Also the electric motor assists with horsepower while the vehicle is moving, and its regenerative braking system uses the energy of deceleration to recharge the lithium-ion battery.
Cox officials said they will test the vehicle, which is made by Eaton Corp., through the remainder of 2008. They said it could pave the way for Cox to convert its entire fleet throughout the U.S. to the energy-efficient technology.

Harkins Theatres will officially mark it’s 75-year anniversary on Monday.
The Scottsdale-based company has grown from one theater - the State Theatre in Tempe - to the state’s largest chain with with over 400 screens.
Harkins was founded by Dwight “Red” Harkins, who’s original dream was to be a Hollywood movie star, and is now helmed by his son, Dan.

A dirt lot that’s remained undeveloped for decades may eventually host retail stores along with residential units
Southern Plaza, a proposed multi-use center rising several floors, would reside just west of the 99 Cents Only store, which neighbhors the site of a proposed Wal-Mart at the northwest corner of Rural Road and Southern Avenue.
A conceptual rendering from Southern Plaza’s developer – Scottsdale-based Diversified Partners – shows a building with ground-floor retail spaces and four floors of condos or apartments above the stores.
However, Justin Gubler, the project’s manager, said that design will most likely change dramatically as plans evolve.
He said the company hopes to break ground on Southern Plaza in late 2009.

Oil prices that plunged $50 in the last two weeks after spiking to nearly $150 per barrel will mean a $1.7 billion boost to the bottom line of Tempe-based US Airways if prices hold steady for the next year, airline president Scott Kirby told Wall Street analysts Thursday.

But it doesn’t mean the carrier will add back flights it has scratched, Kirby said. Or that US Airways will stop charging for Cokes and checked bags, he said.

Kirby was speaking at the Calyon Securities U.S. Airline Conference Thursday.

Major U.S. carriers all have announced plans to cut capacity this year and next in hopes of returning to profitablility after soaring oil prices obliterated profits — and then some.

US Airways plans to ditch 6 percent to 8 percent of its flights in fourth quarter, 8 percent to 10 percent in 2009.

The sudden and recent oil price plunge has been a remarkable turnabout, Kirby said. But the company has already gotten rid of planes and cut jobs to downsize flight schedules, and reversing that would take 18 to 24 months, Kirby said.

A la carte pricing has reaped unexpected benefits, he said. Charging for previously free amenities like sodas and sandwiches has made in-flight cabin service “calmer and more efficient” and eliminated logjams in the aisles, he said.
 
And the airline has checked about 10 percent fewer bags since it added fees for that, which also improved efficiency, Kirby said.

Separating bags and passengers and reuniting them at their destination, is “one of the most complex things we do as an airline,” Kirby said. So fewer checked bags means fewer problems, a smoother operation and better on-time performance, he said.

Kirby said the company plans to use money saved from oil price cuts and a la carte pricing to pay down debt.