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Date:
Author : Sandy Doubleday
If that’s you standing there with a bushel basket of receipts and a confused look on your face, you already know that the clock is ticking loudly, and the deadline is approaching faster than a Mack truck.
It’s not too late to befriend your neighborhood certified public accountants to get your tax information in order and ready to go in time for traditional filing. What they will likely do for you at this point is help arrange an extension giving you a reprieve until Oct. 15 to file. You should know, however, that an extension of time to file your return does not grant you any extension of time to pay your tax liability.
Your local H&R Block will take pity on you, however, and offer help for simple filings clear down to the final hour before the midnight deadline on that fateful Tuesday in April, according to Joan Atchinson, office manager of the Fountain Hills office. They also can arrange for your refund – which should take eight to 14 days to process – to be loaded onto a debit card which you can use at ATMs or to buy groceries or do anything else a debit card can do. If it turns out that your situation is more complicated than you thought, they too can help you with an extension.
If you want to make filing a do-it-yourself project, then hurry down to your favorite software supplier and grab a copy of Intuit’s TurboTax or H&R Block’s TaxCut. There’s a basic edition of each plus options depending on what your needs are. An unscientific, informal survey gave TurboTax an edge in popularity, but either software package should be able
to answer your questions and get you ready to file with user-friendly instructions and step-by-step prompts. After you
enter your data, the programs check for errors and what you might have forgotten. You should be aware, however, that there may be an extra charge if you e-file but not if you print the forms out and mail them in.
Checking online, you find the TurboTax website at www.turbotax.com claims 20,639 reviews of its products, most from happy users. This software searches more than 350 possible deductions such as mortgage interest, charitable donations, education and medical expenses to help you think through where you spent money last year and why.
H&R Block’s TaxCut Premium programs include a one-on-one phone or e-mail session with an H&R Block tax professional at no additional charge directly. You can expect a response within 48 hours, and the service is limited to questions regarding
US individual tax returns. There’s more information on the H&R Block TaxCut options at www.taxcut.com.
You also can use the IRS site at www.irs.gov to file if your adjusted gross income is $54,000 or less, but it doesn’t ask as many questions nor does it prompt you to increase your refund.
Whatever you do, just don’t forget to shred any unused forms that have sensitive personal information such as your social security number.
Obviously, using tax software can help make the most of whatever deductions may apply to your personal or business situation. Before you give up and file a simple return, asking yourself a few questions might generate possibilities for deductions you hadn’t thought of before.
For example, did you
• Get married or divorced?
• Buy or sell a home?
• Make charitable contributions?
• Purchase a new hybrid vehicle?
• Rent out your home or use it for business?
If you are one of the 130 million people who will be receiving a check as part of the economic stimulus package, you have to file a return to be eligible, even if, for some reason, you ordinarily are not required to do so. An example might be social security recipients or those who receive veterans’ disability compensation with qualifying income under $3,000. Eligibility for the stimulus payment also is subject to maximum income limits. The payment, including the basic amount and the amount for qualifying children, will be reduced by five percent of the amount of adjusted gross income in excess of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for those with Married Filing Jointly status.
Don’t be led astray by scam artists posing as IRS agents either on the Internet or the phone who call and ask for social security, bank account or credit card numbers in connection with getting the stimulus package check to you. That’s not how the IRS operates. It will automatically determine eligibility, figure the amount and issue payment after you have filed your 2007 return.
Looking ahead to next year’s 2008 filing, you might consider hiring someone like Lisa Marks, a personal assistant in Scottsdale whose business is called Borrowed Time. She either can train you to do your own bookkeeping efficiently, or you can hire her to make the everyday entries to get your books “accountant ready.” She uses Quicken for personal accounting and QuickBooks for business clients, passing the files along to accountants who take care of monthly, quarterly or end-of-year financial services as needed. You can learn more about her services at www.borrowedtime.biz.
Whether you are accounting for personal or business finances, using software to keep track of your income and outgo can provide valuable insight when you look at how your money is working for you and where you want to be someday. You can use the software to balance your checkbook, pay bills online, automatically categorize expenses and create and manage your budget. For a business, you can track expenses, customize estimates and invoices and monitor your accounts payable and receivables. Information can be gathered on profit and loss statements and balance sheets, so the big picture emerges clearly with a click or two of your mouse.
Whether you make the entries yourself or hire someone to do it for you, good records help you track trends, and timely entries keep you ahead of the game. Maybe April 15, 2009 will be a happier time after all.
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Date:
Author : Various
Must-See New Movies for April 2008
April 4
For the weekend of April 4, it is Leatherheads, starring George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, and John Krasinski (“The Office”), directed by George Clooney. Genre: Romantic Comedy, PG-13. The plot: Set in the world of 1920s football, an aging player and the owner (Clooney) of a professional team drafts a straight-laced college champion (Krasinski) with the intention of moving his team out of recurring barroom brawls and into winning on the field. To complicate matters, the journalist/fiancée (Zellweger) of the owner toys with the affections of both men. Also this weekend: My Blueberry Nights, Nim’s Island, The Ruins, and Shine a Light.
April 11 Scottsdale Airpark News Movie of the Month
For the weekend of April 11, and the SAN Movie of the Month, it is Street Kings, starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, and Hugh Laurie (“House M.D.”), directed by David Ayer (Training Day). Genre: Crime/Suspense Drama, R. The plot: A veteran cop is disgraced due to a suspected killing of a fellow officer, and finds life difficult to cope with since his wife’s death. Upon discovering corruption inside the L.A. police department, he sets out to redeem himself and bring others to justice. Also this weekend: College, Prom Night, and Smart People.
April 18
For the weekend of April 18, it is 88 Minutes, starring Al Pacino, Alicia Witt (Last Holiday), Amy Brenneman (“Judging Amy”), and Leelee Sobieski (The Wicker Man), directed by Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes). Genre: Crime/Suspense Drama, R. The plot: A college professor who moonlights as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI receives a death threat claiming that he has only has 88 minutes to live. To save his own life, he must use all of his skills and training to narrow down the possible suspects, who include a disgruntled student, a jilted former lover, and a serial killer already on death row. Also this weekend: The Forbidden Kingdom, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Pathology.
April 25
For the weekend of April 25, it is Baby Mama, starring Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), Amy Poehler (“Saturday Night Live”), Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine), and Steve Martin, directed by Michael McCullers (Austin Powers in Goldmember). Genre: Comedy, not yet rated. The plot: When a single professional woman (Fey) who wants to have a baby discovers she is infertile, she opts to hire a working class surrogate mother (Poehler), so she can have a baby and keep her highly successful career on track. Also this weekend: Deal, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and The List.
See you at the movies!
Note: While the release dates and ratings for these movies were correct at the time of printing, studios sometimes make last-minute changes. If this happens, we apologize for the inconvenience.
Ken Kaplan owns Entertainment Scene. Look it up online at www.entertainmentscene.com.
DOUBLE FEATURE
Paris in the Springtime
Ratatouille
(2007, Disney/Pixar)
Director: Brad Bird, Cast: Voices of Patton Oswalt, Peter O’Toole, and Janeane Garofolo
This Oscar-winner takes on haute cuisine in Paris through the eyes of Remy, a promising chef with a natural gift. Did we mention that Remy is a rat? Voiced by Oswalt, Remy loves his huge, furry, and somehow always ravenous family, but wants to rise above eating garbage. Through a series of adventures, Remy befriends Luigi. Luigi is a sweet but hapless young plongeur (garbage man) employed at Gusteau’s, the once prestigious French restaurant on the decline in the wake of its namesake’s death. With Remy’s help, Luigi piques the curiosity of the culinary elite – including Parisian critic Anton Ego (O’Toole). Details a Francophile will love: A rat’s POV of the Paris – from a passionate arguing couple to bistros spilling over with patrons. Animated kitchen action inspired by Thomas Keller of the famed French Laundry.
Paris, Je T’Aime
(2006, Canal Plus, U.S. Distribution, First Look, in French and English with subtitles available through the DVD menu)
Directors include: The Coen Brothers, Alexander Payne, Sylvain Chomet, Gurinder Chadha, and more, Cast: Gena Rowlands, Fanny Ardant, Nick Nolte, Juliette Binoche, and more
In what may be a nod to the future of entertainment (think YouTube™), this two-hour film is a series of five minute vignettes. Each an homage to an arrondissement in the City of Lights, the stories can stand alone, but are charmingly woven together in a closing montage. Stay engaged through the end credits for one of the most gorgeous songs you’ll ever hear in a film, Feist’s “We’re All in the Dance” sung in both French and English. Details a Francophile will love: “14ème Arrondissement,” a segment from Payne (whose previous features include About Schmidt and Sideways) that takes a poignant look at a visit of a Denver letter carrier who travels to Paris alone with her phrase book and reflects on her life. Like fine French wine, a repeat viewing of certain vignettes is even more touching.
Did the filmmakers get it right? “Mais alors! La difference as a French individual (born in Paris) is that I do not relate so much to (Paris, Je T’Aime) as the sympathizing foreign public might think. Paris, Je T’Aime has nothing uniquely charming about it. It plays with eloquence, talent, and the everyday stories that would happen anywhere in any big city, not only in Paris! Now, you might think I am a rat, but I do not mind it. After all, the wonderful ‘culinary love story’ from Disney, Ratatouille, has made me say, ‘I love this rat. I love good food. I love to be unique. That is Paris!’ Regarding Paris, Je T’Aime, What’s next? Venice, London, New York, or Tokyo? From all big cities, you can bring back your good memories or the bad ones and choose to tell the story of which one affected you the most. What can I say? I am a sensitive romantic who knows that it is too easy for people to assume that all is as they have seen in a movie?”
GUEST EXPERT Scottsdale-based photographer Jean-Louis Husson, born and raised in Paris
You are What You Read
By Stephen A. Cross
The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy
(Pocket Books, www.simonsays.com)
By Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
In this landmark work, Stanley and Danko discover who the wealthy really are and who they are not. And, most important, they reveal how ordinary people can become wealthy in just one generation. What is so profound about these discoveries? Simply this: Wealth is not the same as income…wealth is what you accumulate and is often the result of a lifestyle of hard work, perseverance, planning and, most of all, self-discipline.
When it comes to identifying the truly affluent, looks are deceiving. Most of America’s wealthy do not display a high-consumption lifestyle. Instead, they get much more pleasure from owning substantial amounts of appreciable assets, including stocks, bonds, private businesses, and the like. Interestingly, most do not own expensive foreign luxury cars or live in upscale neighborhoods.
Affluent people typically follow a lifestyle conducive to accumulating money and include these seven common denominators:
1. They live well below their means.
2. They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth.
3. They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status.
4. Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care.
5. Their adult children are economically self-sufficient.
6. They are proficient in targeting market opportunities.
7. They chose the right occupation.
Are you on the path to financial independence? Use the simple equation on page 13 to see where you stand in the wealth accumulation challenge.
Between the lines: Each of us is responsible for the decisions we make in choosing mates, careers, and how we spend and save our money. The sooner each us replaces the “must have” lifestyle with the “must save” mentality the quicker we will accumulate the money necessary to buy peace of mind, which is…priceless.
Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?
(Free Press, www.simonsays.com)
By Peter Walsh
This is not a diet book. It’s a book about your life - about creating the healthy life and body you have always imagined for yourself. Using techniques honed from years as a clutter expert and organizational consultant, Walsh helps you address how the clutter in your kitchen, your pantry, and your home is directly related to the clutter on your body and negatively affects your ability to lead a full and healthy life.
Walsh’s premise is that when it comes to clearing clutter (the fat in our homes) it isn’t about the stuff itself, it’s about the life you want to live. The same holds true for losing weight: It’s not about the pounds, it’s about living the life you deserve in the body you want.
While the process of removing clutter from your life and fat from your body takes time, there are many things you can do that have immediate results. Declutter your mind, declutter your home, declutter your relationship with food. Then watch the ripple effect this has on every aspect of the way you live.
Between the lines: Consumption is king. We spend too much, we buy too much, and we eat too much. Instead of thinking about buying a larger house, or bigger clothes, first try shedding some of your excess, unwanted, and unneeded stuff. Just as your excess weight did not suddenly appear one day, it will take time to rid yourself of excess clutter. It all starts when you make the decision to be proactive, and begin living the life you want.
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Date:
Author : Rachel Sacco, President & CEO of the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau
At some point in history, every city reaches its heyday – the period of one’s greatest popularity, vigor or prosperity. Many destinations’ heydays have already passed, but I believe that this – now – is Scottsdale’s heyday as we see our downtown transform, as we host more national events, as we protect our precious Sonoran Desert, and as we find creative ways to reach today’s visitors.
While Scottsdale hosted a record 7.7 million visitors in 2006, we cannot rest on our laurels and, therefore, are maximizing our efforts to stay ahead of the curve and market our destination to the savvy traveler.
The Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau is making great strides in enhancing our destination’s brand through a focus on research, which helps us shape our messages, target media buys and sales efforts, and ensure our communications are effective and cost-efficient.
Through our most recent leisure visitor research, we have confirmed that New York and Chicago continue to be Scottsdale’s primary long-haul markets, bringing incremental visitors and revenue to the city year over year. With this data, we target specific past customers and potential visitors in and around these top cities. This targeted campaign approach enabled us to increase our visitation from Chicago by 5.8 percent and from New York by 13.1 percent last year. The study also has helped us identify markets with the greatest potential, including the short-haul markets of San Francisco, Denver and San Diego.
We also are using the findings from the most recent meetings research study to reinforce Scottsdale’s strengths and better educate meeting planners on Scottsdale’s perceived weaknesses. According to the study, a great sign of our continued brand strength and recognition is that Scottsdale ranked fourth in terms of major meetings planned for the next three years.
An important point driven home by much of our research and trends seen around the world is the importance of using the latest technology to reach new customers and make the unique experiences of Scottsdale more accessible to visitors both before they arrive and when they get here.
Coming this year, we are using technology to convert interested travelers into inquirers via hand-held technology, to provide more planning tools to simplify the process for visitors seeking information online, and to increase the length of stay for our travelers. Of course, this is just the beginning when it comes to ever-evolving technology.
Lastly, the Scottsdale bureau is implementing short and medium-term tactics to generate incremental business for our community. With the current economic conditions, we are shifting our focus to reach opportunity markets more thoroughly. We have increased our Canadian marketing and are working to drive visitation from markets with direct flights, including Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg. We also have increased our international public relations efforts to raise awareness for Scottsdale, and expanded our efforts in these markets to reach new customers via travel agents and tour operators.
As travelers’ wants and desires constantly change, it’s critical we change with them – adapting our initiatives and being flexible to best support the community and ensure that Scottsdale’s heyday continues to be strong.
Rachel Sacco is President & CEO of the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, which markets Scottsdale as a premier travel and meetings destination to leisure visitors, meeting and incentive planners, and travel professionals. For more information, visit www.ScottsdaleCVB.com.
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| FOOD & BEVERAGE BUSINESS NEWS |
Date:
Author : N/A
Valley Executive Chef Lee Hilson Takes on Iron Chef Cat Cora
Got chervil? On March 2, Food Network premiered an action-packed episode of “Iron Chef America.” The installment featured Lee Hilson, Executive Chef at Airpark favorite T. Cook’s, in a battle against Cat Cora. The secret ingredient? Ham. Although Hilson lost by one point, he won the sportsmanship award. When one of opponent Cora’s sous chefs desperately sought chervil to complete a dish, Hilson took time out to locate the herb in question.
Elliott Assumes Sole Ownership of The Painted Horse, Appoints Exec. Chef Pearson
Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef Bryan Elliott has assumed sole ownership of The Painted Horse restaurant in North Scottsdale. Among the first changes at the restaurant under Elliott’s helm is the appointment of Todd Pearson as Executive Chef. Says Elliott, “The timing was right for me to move forward as the sole Chef/Owner so that I can now enlarge upon my culinary training and bring new and exciting concepts to the restaurant.” Elliott continues, “I’ve never been more proud of the crew I have now. They all see the big picture. It’s an experience and an opportunity. (Todd and I) will work together on both the restaurant and the catering side of the business.”
Pearson, culinary-trained at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, was an instructor at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute (SCI).
The Painted Horse, known for its cozy atmosphere and gallery experience approach to dining, features eclectic dishes “with a side of comfort.” Typical dinner entrees include Pan-Seared Foie Gras and Caper Berry Calamari. Located on E. Dynamite Road, the restaurant’s décor embraces the American West, featuring large stylistic paintings of wild horses and working cowboys, along with a roaring fire on the front patio.
Michael Mina “Steaks” a Claim in Scottsdale
James Beard award-winning chef Michael Mina recently joined the growing field of world-class culinary stars with a presence in Scottsdale.
Bourbon Steak, a modern American steakhouse, opened on Feb. 11 at the Scottsdale Fairmont Princess, a Strategic Hotels & Resorts property. With a string of critically-acclaimed restaurants in Las Vegas, California, Miami, Atlantic City, and Detroit to his name, Bourbon Steak represents Mina’s first venture in the Arizona desert. Says Mina, “I, along with my entire staff, look forward to sharing my culinary passions with guests of the Fairmont, and locals and tourists alike in Scottsdale/Phoenix. The great southwestern state will be an ideal setting to offer my interpretation of traditional steakhouse favorites.”
The 11,000 square-foot dinner-only establishment boasts seating for 281, including outdoor and lounge seating, along with an interior designed by AvroKo of New York that pays homage to the Southwest. Also available for business clientele are two private dining salons, one seating up to 20, the other up to 40.
Mina recently tapped award-winning chef Sean Griffin, whose resume includes serving top clientele at Nero’s at Caesar’s Palace, to serve as Executive Chef. Other key culinary personnel include Pastry Chef Veronica Arroyo, and Sommeliers Aaron Patrick and Jennifer Eby. Keith Fergel, a transplant from Northern California’s wildly popular French Laundry, serves as General Manager.
Menu items include classic fare made famous by Mina such as Lobster Pot Pie, along with a complete selection of angus and Kobe beef steaks prepared on the restaurant’s wood-burning grill. Dessert menu highlights include beignets with pots de crème and orange churros.
Says Strategic Hotels & Resorts Chairman and CEO Laurence Geller, “As one of many exciting enhancements to our great property, Michael Mina has established a new standard for the resort dining experience.”
Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar and Grill Debuts
In late January 2008, veteran restaurateur and Desert Island Restaurants CEO Randy Schoch opened Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar and Grille at the new Shops at 9400 on Shea Boulevard.
Entering the market with the momentum of a “Best Asian Fusion” restaurant distinction at its Denver, Colo. location, Ling & Louie’s states it offers casual dining serving Asian-inspired cuisine with a contemporary American twist. Its current tagline, by the way, is “not for boring people®,” so be prepared to be dazzling when you visit there. Schoch says that the restaurant is “a great place, with its own irreverent vibe, to hang out with friends and family, and to swing by to pick up some great takeout if you’re in a hurry.”
Menu items include entrees like Shanghai Ribeye and Hop Sing’s Meatloaf served with a side of Wasabi Mashed Potatoes and Szechuan Green Beans.
Schoch’s industry experience dates back to his career as a busboy in Hawaii. The Honolulu native later owned and operated the tony Nick’s Fishmarket and The Black Orchid in that market, along with franchises of well-known brands like Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Romano’s Macaroni Grill.
Ling & Louie’s also plans to open two additional restaurants in the near term: a second in Denver in summer 2008 and one in Chandler, Ariz. at the new casino at Wild Horse Pass in early 2009.
THE SUNS ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP WITH VERVE! ENERGY DRINK
In a first-of-its-kind deal, The Phoenix Suns recently entered into a new “hybrid” marketing partnership with Verve! to become the official energy drink of the hoops stars.
As part of the deal, the Suns lounge becomes a select locale offering Verve! to consumers since the product is sold primarily online through Vemma members. Vemma’s corporate headquarters are located in the Airpark.
“We are extremely excited about our marketing partnership with Verve!,” comments Rick Welts, President & COO of the Phoenix Suns. “It is a groundbreaking partnership because, in addition to a traditional marketing package, our agreement provides the team the opportunity to generate additional revenue based on sales that are a direct result of using the Suns’ marketing assets.”
The five-year deal includes the title sponsorship of the Verve Energy Lounge. The Verve Energy Lounge is a nightclub on the third level of U.S. Airways Center that overlooks the court, and features comfortable sectional sofas, community high-top tables, two island bars and plasma TVs. The team will serve and sample Verve! in the lounge.
“No other team in the NBA personifies speed and energy like the Phoenix Suns. That’s the type of reputation we want to attach to our new Verve! brand of energy drink,” says Vemma CEO B.K. Boreyko. “This is a dynamic partnership that really blazes a new trail of strategic ‘hybrid’ marketing for both organizations. The company defines ‘hybrid’ marketing as a unique combination of network and retail marketing.”
Sushi Roku Comes to Scottsdale
Innovative Dining Group (IDG), the restaurant group whose prominent investors include Ryan Seacrest, Tori Spelling, and director Brett Ratner, will expand its Sushi Roku brand to Arizona when it opens at the W Scottsdale Hotel & Residences in late May.
The original Roku, opened in Hollywood in 1997 by IDG, quickly emerged as a place to see and be seen in Tinseltown. The brand then expanded throughout Los Angeles over subsequent years, and into Las Vegas in 2006. Regarding the imminent Scottsdale expansion, IDG Partner Lee Maen says, “There is a great synergy between the Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale markets.”
Maen continues that the Scottsdale Roku will focus on the elements of “experience dining,” such as great lighting, ambiance, and décor.
The restaurant’s design encompasses 6,000 square feet of space in the traditional Sushi Roku “imprint” by Dodd Mitchell of DMD & Associates. Design features include natural-shaped black slate flooring and an elliptical sushi bar backdropped by a wall of suspended concrete spindles.
Joining Roku from The Boulders Resort is Executive Chef Tim Fields.
QUICK BITES
• Sutra Sushi at Barcelona, the upscale sushi spot designed by Moran Architects, will now offer lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its Airpark location at Barcelona on N. Greenway-Hayden Loop
• Sweet Basil Gourmetware & Cooking School will launch a cooking camp for children and teens this summer (“Kids Cook” & “Teens Cook”) beginning in June
• Are you ready for Cinco de Mayo? Cantina Laredo at the Promenade is with drink specials celebrating 5-5.
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| Roy Yamaguchi Bringing a Taste of Aloha to Scottsdale |
Date:
Author : Elizabeth Hughes
This writer hails from Honolulu – locals there might even call me a Kamaaina - a long-time resident (now transplanted to the Sonoran desert).
Therefore, and in the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t require extensive background information on Roy Yamaguchi for my interview with him earlier this year. My family and I visited the first location of Yamaguchi’s eponymous restaurant in its earliest days.
Opened in 1988, the Hawaii Kai location of Roy’s still bustles. With a first-floor lounge and a second-floor dining room that overlooks the Pacific Ocean, many of the menu items that drew crowds 20 years ago – like the blackened ahi – are still favorites. Today, Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion restaurants are hot spots throughout the country, from Las Vegas to Baltimore. Locally, Roy’s has two locations in the greater Airpark: Roy’s at JW Marriott Desert Ridge and the Seville Center location, which recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary.
Yamaguchi, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Hyde Park, saw an opportunity in Hawaii in the 1980s that revolutionized cuisine there – and later on the mainland. The chef had gotten experience out of culinary school in Los Angeles, most notably at the venerated Michael’s in Santa Monica. Interested in its appeal as a destination for tourists worldwide and a gateway to the Pacific, Yamaguchi returned to the Aloha state. Although born in Japan, Yamaguchi had strong family ties to the islands. It was there, on Maui specifically, that his grandfather had operated a tavern in the 1940s prior to Hawaii’s statehood and later pioneered the local supermarket industry.
Once in Honolulu, the young chef noticed an unusual trend. Yamaguchi remembers, “When I got (to Honolulu) a lot of people were actually prizing themselves on the fact that they were getting fish from the mainland, or Dover sole from England, red snapper from the West coast or grouper from the East coast, and I thought that was odd, because here we had all of this great fish available in the Hawaiian islands. It seemed strange that all of these chefs were taking pride in the fact that they were getting their fish from someplace else. At that point, I really tried to focus on making sure that we did use Hawaiian products and made sure that we used what was available from the local land and sea.”
Subsequently, Yamaguchi and nine others formed the Hawaii Regional Chef’s Association. Its goal was to promote the use of local, fresh ingredients. Remembers Yamaguchi, “(We) got together and we invited some farmers and fishermen to work with us and we said that what we really wanted to do was promote Hawaii as a food destination and to show the world that what we have here is something very special.”
The young entrepreneur was onto something. With menu items that showcased fresh ingredients, Roy’s was an instant success, earning raves from national magazines like Condé Naste Traveler and Forbes. Further acclaim followed in 1993 when Yamaguchi became the first-ever chef from Hawaii to win the coveted James Beard Award.
Today, Yamaguchi still believes in keeping the ingredients fresh and changing the menu to accommodate the seasons. However, he does not espouse trend-chasing. As a younger chef, Yamaguchi loved to perfect sauces and still does to this day. “We just stick to what it is that we do,” he says.
Regarding the Roy’s presence in Scottsdale, Yamaguchi comments, “All restaurants are individual – so what we do is that we basically have our chef partners and our managing partners run the restaurants to the best of their abilities in their markets. And we love being in Scottsdale. Over 10 years, Scottsdale has grown from a sleepy community of restaurants to a lot of restaurants with a lot more competition today than there was 10 years ago. But I still believe that it’s a great market to be in - there are a lot more chefs coming in now and incredible chefs that were born and raised here that do incredibly good stuff…so we’re just happy to be here.”
In March 2008, Yamaguchi announced a nine-city tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Roy’s brand and the Hawaiian Fusion movement it helped to launch. Included on the tour were stops in Atlanta and Los Angeles. In Scottsdale, a 10th Anniversary Party with a celebratory 1998 menu took place. In Honolulu, a two-day “Spectacular” in the Diamond Head neighborhood for enthusiasts in October will showcase a sit down dinner and walk-around event. Proceeds for the Spectacular benefit the Yamaguchi’s alma mater the CIA, along with a foundation to benefit Culinary Institute of the Pacific. The well-traveled culinary professional observes, “(The proceeds) are going to go to cultivating our future students who will be doing great work in the culinary world.”
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| Volunteers Are Soul of Scottsdale |
Date:
Author : Joan Fudala
Scottsdale has plenty to celebrate April 27 to May 3. That’s National Volunteer Week, and Scottsdale is a world-renowned community thanks in large measure to its history of citizen participation and selflessness.
Most think of volunteers as those who serve nonprofit and charitable organizations. Tens of thousands of Scottsdale residents and seasonal visitors do this type of volunteering, but they volunteer within City of Scottsdale departments, too.
During 2007, 1,100 volunteers donated 158,844 hours to serving their City and, in turn, their fellow citizens. Their City roles range from stocking, sorting and putting food boxes together at Vista Del Camino; shelving, book spine repair and staffing the Book Corrals at the public libraries; assisting at public events by handing out safety information, answering questions and staffing exhibits and booths; tutoring students; assisting seniors; repairing bikes at the Paiute Neighborhood Center’s Handlebar Helpers Program; and so much more. City volunteers range in age from teens through seniors in their 80s. One hundred eighty-eight residents serve on City boards and commissions.
How did Scottsdale become a haven for the civic-minded, and what have volunteers accomplished over the community’s history?
Let’s start at the beginning.
Chaplain Winfield Scott, his wife Helen and their close-knit community of fellow settlers set the pace for building a community through volunteerism. Scott, general store owner J.L. Davis and others in the tiny farm village of Scottsdale helped build a church on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community in the 1890s. After the first volunteer school board was established – and comprised of Winfield Scott, Frank Titus and John S. Tait - the men of Scottsdale got together one Saturday afternoon in September 1896 to build the town’s first wooden schoolhouse. Two years later, Scottsdale school children raised money for Cuban famine relief during the Spanish American War. Many in Scottsdale helped form the first Anti-Saloon League in the Arizona Territory and got involved in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, leading to a successful vote for territorial prohibition long before the rest of the country followed suit.
During World War I, Scottsdale ladies met at the Scottsdale Grammar School to roll bandages for the Red Cross. In the 1920s, the Parent Teacher Association organized the first hot lunches to be served at Scottsdale’s grammar school. Merchants and farmers formed the first Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce in 1921. A short-lived all-volunteer-operated lending library operated from a back room of the Farmers & Merchants Bank on Main Street during the 1920s. The Scottsdale Woman’s Club also organized in the 1920s and conducted numerous civic and charitable programs.
During the Depression era of the 1930s, volunteers from Scottsdale’s Hispanic community raised money and hand-constructed the Old Mission Church, which is now on Scottsdale’s historic register. In 1935, Scottsdale men established Post #44 of the American Legion; their wives established an active American Legion Auxiliary. Post #44 is Scottsdale’s oldest, continuously-operating community organization, and its volunteers have supported patriotic and youth programs for over 70 years. Scottsdale-area volunteers got the ball rolling in the late 1930s to establish the Desert Botanical Garden in Papago Park.
During World War II, Scottsdale received kudos for having the highest per capita sale of war bonds in the US (331 of 350 residents bought $82,000 worth of bonds, all voluntarily, and from limited farming and ranching budgets). Scottsdale residents welcomed aviation cadets from Thunderbird II Airfield into their homes for family dinners and holidays. After the war, in 1946, veterans established Post 3513 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Scottsdale, naming the post in honor of Stanley Crews, a local boy who died in the Philippines, and its members began decades of patriotic and community service.
In 1947, volunteers from art, crafts and retail businesses re-chartered the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce. This hardworking group voluntarily raised money to pave or oil down dusty unpaved streets, organized community events like Hi Neighbor Day and the first Sunshine Festival (forerunner to the Parada Del Sol) and began to hold public hearings to study incorporating Scottsdale as an official town. The 4-H club organized in Scottsdale in the 1940s, involving Scottsdale youth in a variety of volunteer programs, particularly centered around the town’s farming lifestyle.
In the 1950s, Scottsdale’s population boom produced a bumper crop of civic-minded individuals, who joined long-time residents to create a civic infrastructure that flourishes today. The Civic Coordinating Council took over the historic Adobe House and turned it into a community center, housing an all-volunteer library, a home for the Scottsdale Community Players, the Girl Scout House and the Center for Blind Children. The Scottsdale Rotary, Lions, Jaycees, Mounted Posse, Verde Vaqueros and Boys Club organized. Scottsdale fought the dreaded polio epidemic of the time by participating in the Mother’s March of Dimes. Elliott Roosevelt, Scottsdale resident and son of the late president who had had polio, rallied Scottsdale-area businessmen to boost the cause further.
In the mid-1950s, a group of active and retired businessmen formed the Scottsdale Baseball Club, and raised money to fund and build Scottsdale Stadium, thus luring the Baltimore Orioles and Spring Training to Scottsdale. They passed the torch of hosting the spring games to the Scottsdale Charros, which formed in the early 1960s. The Charros have contributed millions to local charities and scholarships since their inception.
Youth were schooled and mentored as future community leaders through such organizations as Boy and Girl Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Demolay, Key Club, and church youth groups. Coeds at Scottsdale High School vied for a spot among the Howdy Dudettes, an all-volunteer group of meeters and greeters sponsored by the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce. In the 1960s, guided by arts patron John Pritzlaff, Scottsdale students raised money to fund a fountain on the new Civic Center Mall. Today, Scottsdale High School students gain skills and volunteer service appreciation through school-based service learning programs.
In 1961, a year before the anticipated opening of the City Hospital of Scottsdale, a group of ladies established the City Hospital of Scottsdale Auxiliary. They, and their daughters as Candy Stripers, served in many volunteer capacities when the city’s first hospital opened in May 1962. Today, the Scottsdale Healthcare Auxiliary counts nearly 900 in its ranks. During 2007, Auxilians served 155,000 hours, providing service that included supporting patients and family in the Surgery Waiting Area, Nursing Unit, Endoscopy and Emergency Room.
“The volunteers at Scottsdale Healthcare’s three campuses are dedicated to personalizing healthcare, and for over 45 years have done our best to do the type of activities that enhance the ability of the paid staff to do their jobs more efficiently,” SHC Auxiliary President Richard Carpenter said. “By our work, we try to free the paid staff from some of the mundane jobs so that they can spend more time with the patients. All of this goes toward the goal of “setting the standard for personalized healthcare” that is the vision of Scottsdale Healthcare.”
Throughout the 60s – when the nation was finding its “civic consciousness” – Scottsdale ramped up its breadth and depth of citizen participation and volunteering. Dozens of residents served on Scottsdale Town Enrichment Program committees that helped the city establish a community college, municipal airport, Civic Center, and arts programs. A Civil Air Patrol Squadron formed at the new municipal airport, volunteering its time in search and rescue missions. When the Indian Bend Wash flooded some residents out of their homes, local churches, most particularly St. Daniels, housed and fed the displaced. A new Sister Cities organization adopted Alamos, Mexico as the city’s first international “sister.” The Scottsdale Historical Society formed in 1968 with its first mission to save the Little Red Schoolhouse from possible destruction during an urban renewal project.
In conjunction with the opening of the Scottsdale Center for the Arts in 1975, the Scottsdale Arts Center Association formed to conduct programs and raise funds. The Men’s League was also a primary fundraiser for the center’s programs. Today, the Scottsdale Cultural Council – which operates the Center for the Performing Arts, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Public Art Program – lauds 446 volunteers as an essential part of its success. During Fiscal Year 2006-07, Cultural Council volunteers donated 14,000 hours of time to boost the program, serving as docents, educators and event organizers.
Students and citizens helped raise awareness of the need to preserve Scottsdale’s precious environment. In the 1970s, Coronado and Saguaro high schoolers organized recycling drives. In 1990, Jane Rau and Karen Bertinger founded the McDowell Sonoran Land Trust, and began an education and awareness campaign that, after getting many other citizens involved, resulted in a successful vote to fund the McDowell Sonoran Preserve through a slight increase in the city’s sales tax. Today, 257 volunteers of the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, especially the cadre of well-trained Stewards, donate approximately 18,500 hours a year to support the Preserve – leading hikes, patrolling trails, constructing and maintaining trails, public speaking, creating educational resources and programming content and hosting events.
Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and into the new millennium, volunteerism and civic participation has continued to grow with the city. In 1987 the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, City of Scottsdale and Scottsdale Community College established the Scottsdale Leadership program in order to groom future community leaders and school them in the myriad of opportunities and challenges the city and its civic infrastructure of organizations faced. Hundreds of Leadership graduates now chair not-for-profit boards, sit on commissions and run for public office as volunteers.
National Volunteer Week, established by President Richard M. Nixon in 1974, is sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network. According to the Points of Light Foundation, about 61.2 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2005 and September 2006; the proportion of the US population who volunteered was 26.7 percent.
Volunteers and their countless, thankless hours of dedicated service have helped make America strong and Scottsdale a community with incomparable quality of life. National Volunteer Week gives each of us a prompt to say “thanks!” to volunteers….and make a commitment to get involved ourselves.
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| Price is a marketing tool |
Date:
Author : Gary Witt
Price is not simply a bottom line issue, especially when it comes to food. After all, we spend our money before we eat the food, so we need other cues to judge its quality and value, such as appearance, smell … and price. Price is a marketing tool. The price you set has a subconscious impact on the perceived quality of your product or service, and thus its perceived value (see sidebar.) Since we primarily buy on the basis of maximizing the (perceived) value of what we purchase, you can see how important price is in that equation.
Of course, there is also a well-known negative relationship between price and volume, which we’ll discuss later in this article. That’s why setting price is as much an art as a science.
PRICING BASICS
There are many strategies in setting a price. One of the most common is Target Return Pricing, in which you build a profit margin into the price. The weakness of this strategy is that it does not take into account the likely demand for the product or service, its perceived value, its niche in the category, and the strength of the competition.
Strategies targeted at competitors alone include Going Rate Pricing that meets or beats competitors, and Barrier Pricing that is designed to be so low it discourages new competitors from entering the field. These also may not factor in demand, image, or perceived value.
Two strategies bring the consumer into the picture. Perceived Value Pricing uses marketing to enhance the perceived quality and desirability of the product’s features so buyers set a higher value on it, a strategy common to luxury brands. Value Pricing combines higher quality and lower price to maximize perceived value. Southwest Airlines and IKEA are good examples.
Generally, a price strategy that includes the consumer is more logical than less sophisticated strategies.
STEPS IN SETTING A PRICE: Five Strategies
1. What is your objective? Most companies say it is to “make money,” or “keep the lights on.” Survival is a relevant strategy, especially now. But companies may adopt a more nuanced strategy, such as either Maximizing Market Share or Building Product Quality Leadership Image.
In the former, you sacrifice some profit to obtain more of the market, such as Bashas’ or Fry’s Electronics. This can be a strong strategy since research shows market leaders have a far better chance of survival in hard times. The latter strategy balances a high quality product and a luxury image (created by marketing) with premium but affordable prices, such as AJ’s grocery. This strategy sacrifices some market share for higher profits, but offsets the natural loss by creating such a high quality image that more customers are willing to pay premium prices for good value. This is the strategy also employed by Intel, Starbucks and Victoria’s Secret, among others. You see it is applicable to a wide variety of categories.
2. Determine Demand. It is hard to calculate the price needed to make a profit unless you have an idea if 50 or 500 people will want your product. Too often new companies wildly overestimate this number. Most products have an “elastic demand,” that is, when the price goes up, the volume goes down. Others, like gasoline or milk, have a more “inelastic demand,” where the amount people buy is far less influenced by the price.
A brilliant book, The Laws of Choice by Eric Marder, looked at all this and found that overall, for both durable and consumable goods, for every 10 percent increase in price share will decrease by nine percent. However, there is a lot of variation in this average, especially in consumables. One-fifth of the time the loss will be larger, and one-fifth of the time there will be no loss at all. Durables are much more likely to stick with this ratio. Marder also found that this price-sensitivity is valid for any price level from a few dollars to a million dollars.
3. Estimate costs. You must know what your fixed costs (overhead) are, and the additional costs tied to producing each unit (variable costs.)
4. Analyze competitor’s costs, prices and offers. Consumers have a range of prices in their minds they think are “reasonable” for your product, usually based on experience and competitors’ prices. We think gas is outrageous because it violates our reasonable price range. Europeans believe our prices are extraordinarily reasonable. Unless you can make buyers believe your product or service has additional value to them, then your price point should be somewhere within a reasonable range.
5. Pick your pricing strategy and set the price. The key question you should be asking here is “How can I show buyers the value that supports the price I need?” Focusing on creating the perception of value (see an earlier column on the multifaceted Value Equation) deters you from trying to compete on price alone. Except in rare cases, that is a ruinous strategy. Every dollar you cut is a dollar out of your pocket, meaning the new volume will have to increase dramatically since only a portion of the sales price (your unit profit margin) will be offsetting the dollar loss you’ve inflicted on yourself.
One small strategy to consider is the price cue of the end number. Marder and many others have found that buyers will actually buy more of any product if the end number is a nine, such as $1.79, $29.99, etc. They will even buy more than if the same product is priced lower, such as $1.74 or $29.91!
The key to price success is making your buyer believe, through marketing (including packaging), that your product or service is higher quality, offers more value, and will satisfy their needs more than your competitors. If you win the Value fight, you will get your share of buyers even with somewhat higher prices.
Here’s a final example to illustrate this. Imagine I show you a great looking steak dinner and tell you it came from Denny’s. I’ll sell it to you for $25. Not many takers. But what if I tell you it comes from Morton’s? Suddenly, the same dinner has a higher perceived quality in your mind and thus a higher value for the $25. I’ll get many more buyers. The steak didn’t change, only your perception of it! Creating the right image to support the price you want to charge is a more sustainable strategy than simply slashing prices.
Gary Witt, Ph.D., is the managing partner of the Marketing Psychology Group, Inc., Scottsdale; (480) 425-8600. Address e-mail to witt@marketingpsychology.com. Visit the website at www.marketingpsychology.com.
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Date:
Author : Elizabeth Hughes
Hughes: Tell us a little about Gilligan’s – let’s go all the way back to that venture for you.
Fox: Wow! Well, I was 20-years-old and I was going to college and I dropped out of college to open up a little restaurant and sports bar.
Hughes: Why’d you drop out?
Fox: I was going to school for real estate finance and, while I was having fun in school, I wasn’t getting anywhere, that’s for sure. I was in my junior year and wanted to try something different. I figured that I would try it and if it didn’t work I could always go back to school. Needless to say, I never went back to school.
Hughes: And you were just in your 20s when you got FRC going. It would seem sort of young. Did your age impact your experience? Did it make any aspect of the experience more difficult?
Fox: Through my childhood, I had always worked at restaurants, so I was always very good inside the restaurant. I understood that side of the restaurant business and kind of grew up in it. What I was not good at was the “business” side of the business, and that was sort of the learning curve that I had to get over during my first three or four years in the restaurant business. That was “my college.”
Hughes: It would seem too that, like any other industry, once you have one success under your belt, people care less about age.
Fox: Yeah, when you have one store and then two and three, it gets easier. With each store, it gets easier to get deals done and attract great people. People begin to know that no matter what you do, you’re going to create a great restaurant.
Hughes: Where do you draw inspiration for the concepts?
Fox: Everywhere. A lot of it’s design. A lot of it’s food. A lot of it is where my passions are or how I’m feeling, what’s going on with me. When I was doing The Greene House for instance, I was spending a lot of time in, and still spend a lot of time in, California and fell in love with the Arts and Crafts Movement of Pasadena – you know, the Gamble House, and Greene & Greene Brothers. I spent a lot of time looking at their projects from the 1920s. So we built this Arts and Crafts-style space in Kierland Commons and everything became kind of California-based – the Levi’s 501 Jeans, the hemp aprons, all the small farms and wineries that we source most of product from – all come from California.
Hughes: And then NoRTH has a European feel. I notice that diners seem to enjoy long, luxurious lunches there. Did you spend a lot of time in Italy, too?
Fox: Yes, I spent some time in Florence, Rome, and on the Amalfi coast – places like that. You know, from when we first did NoRTH – the restaurant has evolved. It’s in its fifth year and we have five of them – it’s very different. And a lot of people, when they go there, don’t even think it’s an Italian restaurant. You know, we don’t do the traditional Italian approach with red sauces and pastas and creams. We wanted things to be more protein and ingredient driven…That’s sort of how NoRTH got its start – I spent some time in Italy and just loved that food.
Hughes: What do you want to say about Bar NoRTH?
Fox: Bar NoRTH was an opportunity for us to capture more real estate in Kierland and we wanted build on what we had next door, but not be the same. Bar NoRTH would be more small plates and wine bar-focus. Very leisurely, more casual than NoRTH – no reservations. A smaller, more focused menu…a lot of wine offerings, cocktails, a great patio, a little communal table in there. It’s a great place for sharing and socializing and that’s really its driving force.
Hughes: Sometimes you see a restaurant open with such hype and fanfare and then just fizzle out. How do you keep your staff excited about your restaurants – how do you strive for the “opening week” buzz in an ongoing capacity?
Fox: Well, we’re constantly tweaking things…whether it’s design, food items, uniforms, little things here and there all of the way along the way. We have a great staff and we drive that into them and they’re driving the business. We really connect with a lot of guests coming through the door and our staff develops relationships with them…especially up there at the Airpark restaurants, we just have such a steady flow of regulars that keep consistently coming back to us. It’s a good thing for us and for our staff. We don’t ever feel that we gotten “good enough” so we’re always tinkering and looking at ways to improve. And we listen to our guests and employees.
Hughes: What do you look for in employees – let’s say someone just out of college or in school?
Fox: This is our thought process. If you’re going to work in the restaurant business as our employee we want you to work with us and we feel that there is a home for you in our organization. We do have a lot of students – people that may work with us for two, three years while in school and they may go on to different careers and we don’t begrudge that at all. As another example, we had a lot of people who worked with us for a couple of years who left us to go work in the real estate and mortgage business and we’re seeing a lot those people come back. Overall, we look for someone who understands hospitality. The restaurant is a great vehicle for them to make money and to have a great career, but their service is really for the guest – not for them or for me. As long as they understand our philosophy.
Hughes: And have some entry level people made it all of the way up to Manager or Sommelier – do you groom from within?
Fox: A lot. We try to grow organically as much possible. We talk about that every single day. We’re always doing things to try to motivate people…We’ve been growing at 35 to 40 percent for the last four years in a row, so if you do come in, there is an opportunity to move up. We have a lot of people that started as waiters and moved up. At Wildflower, for example, my first restaurant in Tucson, we have people with major positions within the organization who started at the beginning (10 years ago).
Hughes: You talked about real estate. Have any residential developers tried to bring you to their market to increase neighborhood cachet?
Fox: All of the time. You know, there are a lot of different mixed use projects out there and a lot of those things are in some undeveloped areas, so we’re cautious about where we go and what we put our stamp on. But, yes, we get a lot of those residential inquiries.
Hughes: How about | | |
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