Inside East Valley Business

Tony Liga was something of a legend in the Valley.
The native of Sicily, Italy moved here in 1939 and opened his first Tony’s Shoe Repair shop in downtown Phoenix. The outgoing and skillful shoe repairman gradually expanded his business and eventually owned eight repair shops, including several in the East Valley.
Liga died Nov. 23. He was 97. His stores, where virtually hundreds of thousands of shoes were fixed over more than four decades, were taken over by his sons, Michael and James Liga, after their father retired in 1982. The sons later sold them to other shoe repairmen.
“He loved talking with people and making jokes,” said Michael Liga. “He’ll be missed by a lot of people.”
There are three Tony Shoe Repair shops still operating, including the store at 7062 E. Indian School Road in downtown Scottsdale.
Services for Liga will be at 7 p.m. Friday at Whitney and Murphy Funeral Home, 4800 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix. A funeral mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 4715 N. Central Avenue. Burial is at St. Francis Catholic Cemetary.
 

Tony Liga

Fifteen is today’s magic number for air travellers using Allegiant Air at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
The Las Vegas-based airline is offering one-way fares for $15 from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway to any of its 15 destination cities in the following states:
Washington, Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Oregon, Illinois and Missouri.
The $15 fare began at 12:01 a.m. and ends today at 3 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time .
The low-priced flights are only for planes departing the Mesa airport, not returns. The reason for today’s, one-day price break, according to a press release:
Allegiant Air is celebrating its one-year anniversary of service from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway.  Since it started on Oct. 25, 2007, the airline has carried more than 310,000 passengers to and from the East Valley airport.  It has also expanded its terminal and parking space.
Besides regular return flight prices passengers will be charged a check-in baggage fee of $15 per bag per person for the first two bags - if they buy tickets at the time of booking their flights either on the Internet or by telephone.
If they buy tickets at the airport, however, the price for checked baggage is $25 per bag, per person for the first two bags. Higher fees will be charged for three or more checked bags.
Reservations can be made through the company’s website at www.allegiantair.com or by calling their reservations center in Las Vegas at 1-702-505-8888.

Gerry Keim, associate dean for the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, recently completed research on how consumers during the mid-1800s began to switch from using whale oil to petroleum for fueling their indoor lights.
What does this have to do with today’s economy or the price of gasoline at the pumps?
“We had to move away from whale oil because of the rising prices,” said Keim. “As a result, people began drilling for oil and found an alternative source of energy.”
Keim said the search for alternative energy to replace gasoline (instead of whale oil, of course,) continues today with solar power, wind power, hydrogen and electricity.
“I’m confident we’ll have real alternatives in 10 to 15 years,” said Keim.
Did you hear that, Herman Melville?

Arlene Sandberg of Queen Creek is attracting a lot of thumbs up from smiling motorists  as she drives her 2006 Ford Escape SUV along the Valley freeways.

She is also getting a few other digital expressions from angry  speedsters who tailgate her.

Reason for the smiles-and-frowns: Sandberg, owner of a housecleaning company, Clean As A Whistle, recently put a sign on the back of her vehcile that says: “Not Going Faster! Saving Gas. It Works. Try It. You’ll Like It. $$”

The sign explains to other motorists why she drives five miles per hour  below the speed limit.

“I’m saving about $30 a week on gas by driving five miles slower,” said Sandberg. “It’s also  safer.”

Sandberg traded her pickup truck for the smaller, SUV specifically to get better mileage. Her miles-per-gallon of gasoline went from 18 with the truck  to 21 with the SUV. By driving 60 mph instead of 65, she now gets about 29 mpg, which, at more than $4 a gallon, amounts to  a savings of about $36 a week.

“My sign also tells tailgaters why I’m driving slower,” Sandberg said.

You casino gamblers out there, listen up. The new Arizona Casino Resort & Spa at Loop 101 and Indian Bend Road on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community will offer high maximum betting when their casino opens in 2010. In short, you can gamble big bucks!

“Our high limit betting section of the casino will have four blackjack tables and between sixty and sixty-five high limit slot machines,” said Russ Burbank, senior vice president of operations.

Maximum bets under Arizona law at the blackjack tables is $500, and $25-a-pull at the slots.

Oh, yes, they’ll still accept  minimum bets, like a few dollars and quarters.  Either way, good luck!

Two adults can expect to pay $164 for lodging and $80 for food for a total $244 on average each  day while on vacation this summer, according to the AAA Arizona 2008 Vacation Cost Survey.

The survey of 49 cities shows the most and least expensive destinations as well as offering some cost-saving suggestions.

The five  most expensive and their daily averages are Honolulu, $673, New York City, $606, Miami and Miami Beach, $370, San Diego, $361 and Las Vegas, $358.

The five most economical are Tulsa, Okla, $179, Albuquerque, N.M., $179, Wichita, Kan., $194, Oklahoma City, Okla., $194 and Fresno, Calif., $207.

Average costs for Arizona cities include Mesa, $208, Tucson, $272 and Phoenix, $281.

AAA Arizona has been tracking the average costs for vacationers since 1950, when the daily expenses for lodging and meals reached a remarkable $13, said Don Nunnari, vice president of membership products and services.

“One of our main goals in releasing this annual survey is to help travelers plan ahead,” said Nunnari. “In the current economy, the alst thing you want to do is return from vacation and realize you have exceeded y our travel budget.”

Some of the cost-saving suggestions include, if driving,  figure your fuel costs in advance, book rooms early, travel off-season, bring your own food, avoid ATM machines and take advantage of discounts.

An increase in violence at  Arizona and Mexico border cities triggered a travel alert from the Arizona Department of State recently,  but the agency added that tourists generally are not the targets of crime. Nevertheless, AAA Arizona issued a list of precautions for travellers heading South of the Border, including:

U.S. Citizens 19 years or older are required to present a government-issued photo ID and proof of citizenship and those under 18 must show proof of citizenship. Air travellers must have passports upon their return to the U.S.

If travelling by vehicle, buy Mexico auto insurance; leave expensive-looking jewelry and other valuables home; leave your itinerary and phone numbers with a friend or family member at home; register with the State Department so you may be contacted in case of a family emergency in the U.S.; think about buying travel insurance. For more information, visit www.AAAAZ.com.

AAA Arizona has some suggestions for drivers facing the shattering fuel prices  at the pump.

“There are several ways motorists can curb their fuel consumption and maximize their fuel efficiency to lessen the pinch of current pump prices,” said Linda Gorman, public affairs manager for AAA Arizona. Print these out and put them on your sun visor:

* Carpool, telecommute, ride share or use public transportation when possible. Alternative modes of transportation just one day a week can curb fuel consumption by as much as 20 percent.

* Keep your eyes open for low fuel prices, but don’t waste gas driving to a distant station to save a few cents. For the cheapest gas in your neighborhood, log on to www.aaaaz.com/news and click on “Fuel Price Finder.”

* When planning a vacation, budget your fuel costs in advance by visiting AAA’s Fuel Cost Calculator at www.fuelcostcalculator.com.

* If you are going somewhere new, get directions first from an online source such as AAA TripTik. Getting lost wastes gas.

* Keep up your vehicle maintenance. A simple measure such as keeping tires properly inflated can increase gas mileage by as much as two percent.

* Follow the speed limit. Driving 75 mph instead of 65 mph will lower your fuel economy by 10 percent. Driving 70 mph instead of 55 mph will lower it by 17 percent.

* Travel light. Less weight means better mileage and heavier vehicles uses more gasoline.

* Buy at the right time of day. Gas is sold by volume, which expands and contracts given the ambient temperature. By filling your tank during the cooler parts of the day (early morning or late evening) you will be getting more volume per gallon.

No tight tank tops or unzipped jackets, thank  you.

The latest Go Daddy TV commercial features a smiling young girl, fully-clothed and who looks like she’s about to sell a box of Girl Scout cookies.

However, the pre-teenager is selling GoDaddy.com so viewers will buy a domain name  from the Scottsdale company.

“Everyone has a dream,” the girl tells viewers. “Build yours today with a domain name from GoDaddy.com.”

This pitch is made after she is given a checkered flag from her heroine, auto racer Danica Patrick - and after the little girl beats a bunch of boys racing her go-kart as she aspires to become another Patrick.

“It just shows that Danica is a role model, that she is certainly an inspiration to many female athletes and it plays on that,” said CEO and GoDaddy founder, Bob Parsons. “In this particular case the little girl’s a kart racer, but there’s women in all sports that look up to Danica as someone who has competed with boys and is making it.”

The ad, which debuted April 6 during ESPN’s broadcast of the IndyCar St. Petersburg Grand Prix, is a big switch from some of GoDaddy’s provocative bids for customers. Like the one featuring shapely GoDaddy Girl Candice Michelle at a young man’s doorway. Or, that famous commerical during the Super Bowl when, oops! the brastrap slips. That one drew a lot of attention as well as many new domain names for Parsons, who labled it “GoDaddyesque.”

“There are many sides to us, and this commercial just shows one of them,” Parsons said.

Going Green is a becoming a popular term in the business world.

 Basically, it describes companies that are not only becoming environmentally friendly, but are turning a profit by doing so as well as firms that are selling green products. The East Valley is an especially fertile place for Going Green. On April 4, for example, from 7:30 to 9 a.m., a breakfast sponsored by the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce will focus on how companies can not only improve the environment but can also have economic success.  The speakers will tell guests who will pay between $15 and $30 to attend that:

* 500,000 new jobs could be created in green industries by 2030.

* 41 percent of consumers buy products containing recycled material.

* 64 percent of consumers would be willing to pay more for products and services that produce lower greenhouse gas emissions.

* The current green market in the U.S. is estimated at $229 billion.

The session will be at the DC Ranch Homestead Community Center, 9797 E. Union Hills Drive, Scottsdale. Guest speakers include Gerry Keim, associate dean at the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Management; James Porter, owner and head chef at Tapino Kitchen and Wine Bar and Lauren Simmons, vice president of marketing at Scottsdale C.V.B.

Then, on April 17 the Tempe Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business Council is sponsoring a Hot Topics lunch about the business of sustainability. That’s the word used to describe how businesses can not only operate in an ecologically-sound environment but how they can  profit economically. The luncheon is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Embassy Suites, 4400 S. Rural Road, Tempe and cost is $20 for chamber members in advance, $25 at the door and $30 for prospective members. Information about theScottsdale session: (480) 355-2700 or www.scottsdalechamber.com. In
Tempe, call (480) 736-4285 or www.info@tempechamber.org

Go Green!