Inside East Valley Business

Bags of candy were yanked from shelves at the popular Lee Lee Oriental Supermarkets in Chandler and Peoria last week over fears that in may be contaminated with a dangerous chemical.

Lee Lee owner, Meng Truong, said he was warned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of the possible danger posed by White Rabbit Candy.

The recall was announced by California-based Queensway Foods Company on Friday after the candy tested positive for traces of melamine, the same chemical found in infant formula in China that’s been blamed for the deaths of four babies.

Melamine is a chemecal used in plastics manufacturing.

Electronics giant Pioneer plans to open its second U.S. store at CityCenter in CityNorth, the 70-acre heart of the under-construction residential, retail, office and entertainment complex at 56th Street and Deer Valley Drive in northeast Phoenix.

 
Pioneer plans to sell and service Pioneer, Elite and Premier brand product lines at the Valley shop. It will feature lifestyle vignettes, including an ultimate Pioneer home cinema experience and a vehicle to demonstrate its in-car navigation, audio and video options, according to CityNorth developers.

“Pioneer’s decision to expand beyond its flagship location at South Coast Plaza in Orange County to CityCenter of CityNorth is indicative of the hand-crafted retail experience we are bringing to the Northeast Valley,” said Webber Hudson, executive vice president of Related Urban, which is piloting the retail development at CityNorth.

Other just-announced retailers for CityNorth include bebe, Lens Crafters and Bobby Chan, which sells upscale but casual men’s and women’s clothing.

CityNorth also announced new restuarants that are joining the eatery line-up. Press Coffee Food Wine, Mojo Yogurt and Saito’s Japanese Steak House have signed on. All plan to debut on High Street, which is slated to open Nov. 13.

High Street is the  first of three mixed-use neighborhoods planned for CityCenter. It features 47 shops, eight restaurants, 39 for-sale condominium residences, 60 luxury rental condos and 320,000 square feet of Class A office and medical suite space.

The JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in northeast Phoenix is one of six Marriotts nationwide to pilot a new Wii system for hotel guests.
Marriott International said it worked with Nintendo to develop a unique game system for guest rooms and lobbies in Marriott and Renaissance brand properties.
It allows hotel guests to select from a library of games without inserting game discs.
With the intuitive games menu, guests can just point the Wii Remote at a game and begin playing.
Included in each system are 20 popular games including Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports and fitness favorite Wii Fit. Marriott said new Wii games will be added to the menu as they become available.
The Wii guest room packages include unlimited Wii access for the entire stay, the company said.

You may think it’s just an auto auction, but Barrett-Jackson has sold the Miami Vice boat, John Lennon’s piano and a 40-foot tall, fire-breathing, car-crushing metal dinosaur at previous Scottsdale events.
For this January, Barrett-Jackson chairman Craig Jackson has landed a World War II-era Ford Tri-Motor plane.

It was built in 1929 for passenger service, but it unexpectedly came under fire when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, launching the United States into the world conflict. The plane was bombarded by bullets during the attack but was fixed up and restored to passenger duty. Since 1969, it has been privately owned and was part of the Wings and Wheels museum collection previously located in Orlando, Fla.
“Ford’s Tri-Motor airplanes played a very important role in creating the modern transportation system,” said Steve Davis, Barrett-Jackson president.  “Just as he put America on wheels with the Model T ‘Tin Lizzie,’ Henry Ford created the Tri-Motor ‘Tin Goose’ airplane to help the general public realize the benefits of air travel.  This particular plane has a wonderful history and everyone who loves both automobiles and aviation will be touched by its story.”

Jackson said he hasn’t lined up the 1,000 or so collector cars he plans to auction for his signature event, which roars into WestWorld Jan. 11, but the Tri-Motor will be a star attraction.

An estate once belonging to presidential hopeful John McCain is up for auction.

The 13-bedroom home was the childhood home of McCain’s wife, Cindy, according to a press release from The Larsen Co., which is handling the sale.

(Click here for an aerial view of the home.)

“Her (Cindy’s) parents built the home in 1951,” said Stewart Larsen, president of Larsen Co. “When she and John got married, they moved in and raised the kids there for 20 years until two years ago.”

Some of the more lavish amenities at the 2.7-acre estate include a full bar and playhouse, theater room, 4-bedroom guest casita, wine-tasting room, and 7-car garage. The house has 14.5 bathrooms, a pool, three ramadas and “resort style grounds.”

The 15,000-square-foot home, which will be auctioned at 1 p.m. on Oct. 25, is at 7110 N. Central Avenue, which is just north of Glendale Avenue in north Phoenix.

Larsen said there’s no minimum bid, but the house is appraised at $12 million and it’s up to the the current owner whether or not to accept the highest bid.

Wal-Mart Stores revealed some details on its newest chain store concept Marketside, which opens only in the Valley on Saturday.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based company launched a beefed-up version of the neighbhorhood-centric grocery stores’ Web site that features floor plans, some product selection and prices.
Marketside is divided up into 11 sections with names like The Corner Deli, The Bakery, The Butcher Shop and The Garden, or the produce section.

The four stores, which will be in Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa and Tempe, will offer an array of prepared meals like chicken tamales with Spanish rice or steak fajitas with grilled onions and red rice, which range in price from $6 for single-sized entrees to $8 for a family-sized entrees. They also offer $4 appetizers and $2 side dishes like salads.

Marketside will sell about 200 wines for under $10, as well as domestic and import beers and spirits. Unlike Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which sells an extensive selection of low-priced store-brand products, Marketside’s Web site makes no mention of private label products.

Marketside opens on Sunday at Elliot and Cooper roads in Gilbert, Ray and McQueen roads in Chandler, Sossaman and Baseline roads in Mesa and Rural and Elliot roads in Tempe.

Move over Gatorade.

Shamrock Farms wants some of the sports drink market and they think they’re going to get it with chocolate milk.

The Tempe-based company started marketing Rockin’ Refuel, a “sports recovery beverage.”

The new beverage is available at Albertson’s, Bashas’, Safeway, Fry’s, Super Wal-Mart, Circle K and Quik Trip.

If lines are too long at the East Valley’s sole Krispy Kreme in Mesa, you can drive to Phoenix starting Oct. 9 to get your doughnuts.

New stores will open at the corner of 7th and Roosevelt streets, Indian School Road and 28th Street, and at Paradise Valley Mall at the intersection of Paradise Village Parkway and Cactus Road.

Arizona’s only other Krispy Kreme is south of Superstition Springs Center on Superstition Springs Boulevard, west of Power Road in Mesa.

Don’t you hate it when your beer gives away your position just before you take down a 12-point buck?

Miller High Life, the self-fancying “Champagne of Beers,” hears you and wants to help by selling limited edition camouflaged cans of their beer.

“We received a lot of positive feedback from the launch of last year’s limited-edition, blaze-orange High Life cans, so this year’s outdoor-themed packaging is a way to continue that tradition, and include an even broader array of outdoors activities,” said the company’s senior brand manager Kevin Oglesby in a press release.

The incognito cans of High Life and High Life Light will be available in 24 and 30-packs from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.

The company said the promotion is a nod to outdoor enthusiasts who make up a large part of their customer base.

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.