Inside East Valley Business

Officials at a Mesa-based medical supply firm must have enjoyed some big laughs when they marketed this fake jet-powered wheel chair on their Web site.

Allegro Medical said their “Jet Chair,” was marked down from $755,000 to $387,568 and can travel from 0 to 300 miles per hour in 4.2 seconds.

Officials said a few people have phoned the company to ask if it is real, and one customer even tried to buy it. The chair, which company officials said features a jet engine, fat run-flat high pressure tires, a rear airfoil, windsock and curb feelers. It’s not real, but rather a light-hearted attempt to drum up business for their nonfictional products sold on their Web site, www.allegromedical.com.

Cash-strapped fashion plates are looking more to blue-plate specials when shopping for school clothes, industry experts say.

According to a survey from the Washington D.C.-based International Council of Shopping Centers, 90 percent of customers plan to shop at discount retail stores this year, down from about 84 percent last year. Only 29 percent of shoppers plan to buy trendy apparel this year, while the vast majority of those polled will go for more plain clothing.

“Basics are going to be in style,” an ICSC press release said.

Gia Wehus, manager at the Anchor Blue clothing store at Fiesta Mall in Mesa, can attest to that first-hand.

“People just are not selling the prints and the really fashionable items,” she said Tuesday. “It’s more of like your basic plain-type tops. “

The main reason, Wehus said, is that items like t-shirts and jeans are timeless.

“When you’re buying basics, you don’t have to keep up with trends, which means you don’t have to pull out your pocket book every couple months to keep up with what’s going on,” she added.

Starbucks lovers are in their cups today.

Of the 600 stores in the United States the company plans to close, only one will be in Arizona, according to its Web site.

A store in Eloy, at Sunland Gin Road and Interstate 10,  won’t make the cut. No doubt Eloy’s civic leaders are sucking espressos right now trying to figure out what to do.

In truth, we got off easy. Nearly 90 stores will close in California and Florida will see 59 of the gourmet coffee shops go away.  

In Eloy, java just won’t be the same.

The Gatorade Co., a division of PepsiCo, plans to install the largest customer-owned solar energy project in Arizona at its distribution and manufacturing center in Tolleson, the company said today.

Photovoltaic panels, which convert sunlight to electric current, will be installed on the roof of the distribution center. The system, which will be installed by SPG Solar, is expected to produce more than 760,000 kilowatt hours per year – the amount of electricity needed to run about 50 households.

The system is expected to reduce carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions by about 491 metric tons a year.

The panels are scheduled to be installed in early September, and the system will begin producing power in November.

Salt River Project is contributing $1.2 million to the project.

The Chick-fil-A chain will give away free meals to anyone willing to create a public spectacle of themselves by donning a cow costume.

A company press release said officials will host the give-aways will at restaurants on Friday, which the chain calls “Cow Appreciation Day.”

In years past, Chick-fil-A officials said customers have shown up en mass wearing everything “from simple cow-spotted T-shirts to full cow suits complete with furry ears, cow bells and homemade sandwich boards with personalized renditions of Chick-fil-A’s “Eat Mor Chikin” Cow messages.”