Briefs

The restaurant industry is about great food, appealing surroundings and happy customers. Recent supply chain issues have impacted the industry with availability — but mainly the actual cost — of food. We’ve been good customers for our suppliers for years; however, when our suppliers see food costs leap, it’s a challenge even for them to tell us that news. A key observation is that with our core team, we can manage almost any challenge. And, of course, it all comes down to the customer. Our customers, new and old, appreciate how hard we’ve worked to keep prices reasonable.

The lesson here is to get that strong team in place; restaurateurs need to be good customers to their suppliers and create those relationships — it pays dividends during times of challenge. And always deliver on the promise to the customers. Otherwise, it all collapses.

Meanwhile, we continue to pursue growth with three new locations of Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers opening this year: in Maricopa, our first in metro Tucson (Oro Valley), and Downtown Phoenix at Chase Field with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Outside Arizona, we’re looking at Dallas, Las Vegas and Nashville, and hope to be in one of those markets next year.

The Chase Field location will be a complete Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers restaurant experience — and then some. We want to make that especially clear. We will be open seven days a week to serve our customers in Downtown Phoenix, game on or not, rain or shine. We spent some time looking for the right spot downtown. It all came about as we discussed promotional opportunities with the Arizona Diamondbacks. You never know what might come out of a meeting like that. We appreciate Derrick Hall and his team championing our vision. Think of it: On game days, Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers will have live sports energy like no other spot in our system. And on non-game days, customers can enjoy the outstanding views of a major league baseball stadium. We hope it will be a destination dining experience for all our customers because, for baseball fans or any sports fan, like we are, this spot will be special any day of the week.

As for our B&B Cocktail Lounge at Chase Field, that will open next year, following our first location open this summer in Old Town Scottsdale. At Chase Field, it’ll have that small, club feel, although open to everyone. Imagine sipping the world’s finest bourbon while watching a live game or simply taking in views of the stadium. —S. Barrett Rinzler, founder and CEO of Square One Concepts DAILIES TOP STORIES

Here are the stories with the most views over the past 30 days (prior to press time) that were features in our In Business Dailies. The In Business Dailies hit email inboxes twice each weekday — at 9:30 a.m. and updated at 4:30 p.m. Sign up today at www.inbusinessphx.com/dailies-signup

Government & Compliance | inbusinessphx.com | June 2 2022

City of Phoenix Due to the shortage of water on the Colorado River caused by overallocation, prolonged drought, and climate change, the City of Phoenix has declared a Stage 1 Water Alert and activated its Drought Management Plan.

Legal & Regulations | Cover Story | June 2022 Your Business & the Law

by RaeAnne Marsh The upheaval of the past couple of years has required businesses to adapt and adopt a lot of change to survive. Some of this comes from social pressures as attitudes and habits change, and some comes from new regulatory guidelines and requirements.

Commercial Real Estate & Development | Cover Story | May 2022 Our Industrial Market Is Booming!

by RaeAnne Marsh “We are seeing an industrial technologies renaissance, led by semiconductor companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company building a massive campus in north Phoenix and Intel expanding with Fab 52 and Fab 62 in the southeast Valley that are driving a whole ecosystem of investment,” says Chris Camacho, president and CEO of Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

Commercial Real Estate & Development | inbusinessphx.com | June 2 2022

inbusinessPHX.com Thrive Development Group, based out of Phoenix, Arizona, recently purchased The Shops at Apache Junction, located at 185 W. Apache Trail. This is the commercial developer’s first commercial real estate purchase since it started in March of this year.

LOOKING GOOD

Trevor Wilde, CEO of award-winning Wilde Wealth Management Group, was named to Forbes’ 2022 BestIn-State Wealth Advisors list. He was named No. 2 overall among the 110 advisors from across Arizona named to the prestigious list. This is his second year in a row earning the No. 2 overall ranking, and it came on the heels of being named to Barron’s top 1,200 advisors nationwide. wildewealth.com

Barbra Coffee, CEcD, EDFP, Economic Initiatives Director for the City of Tucson and Kelly Patton, Economic Development Manager for APS, both members of the Arizona Association for Economic Development, have been named to the 2022 North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers by Consultant Connect, a service for educational and networking events for economic developers and site selectors. aaed.com

Alkaline Water Company, Scottsdale-headquartered producer of premium bottled alkaline water and CBDinfused products with a mission to produce sustainable options for water consumption, recently donated a pallet (1,440 bottles) of its popular Alkaline 88 water to the Phoenix Rescue Mission. thealkalinewaterco.com

As part of Cox’s plan to help 34 million people live more prosperous lives by 2034, the company kicked off its “34 by 34” social impact initiative at South Mountain Park with a $250,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley. The grant will fund the installation of solar panels at the Rosenzweig Boys & Girls Club branch in Phoenix. cox.com

Larry H. Miller Dealerships’ second annual “Luggage of Love” campaign provided more than $100,000’s worth of donated “comfort” kits (suitcases that contain a blanket, pillow, pajamas and socks) for foster children who are often uprooted suddenly from their homes. The caravan of cars from all of the Phoenix and Tucson dealerships delivered the kits to the Arizona Department of Child Safety in Phoenix and Tucson. lhmauto.com

Checkers & Rally’s expansion plans have started to take shape with the planned openings of three new franchised restaurants in the summer of 2022 and 14 more restaurants to come by the end of 2026. Capitalizing on its small real estate footprint, double drive-thru format and ample white space to grow, Checkers & Rally’s goal is to bring its award-winning seasoned fries and Big Buford burgers to all of Phoenix and its surrounding cities. The resurgence of the Phoenix market began when longtime franchisee Bruce Ong reopened three Rally’s locations in 2019, sparking a renewed interest in new restaurant development. Joining Ong in the acceleration of the expansion plan are two additional franchise groups led by Keith Gallagher and Dan Leung. Leung’s newest location at 617 W. Bell Road in Phoenix has just opened (May 31st), joining his first restaurant at 403 N. Greenfield in Mesa that opened the year prior.

Helping intensify this growth is retired U.S Air Force Lt. Colonel Keith Gallagher, who, along with his partner Gautum Ramchandani, will open their first Rally’s in July at 7890 W. Thomas Road in Phoenix followed closely by restaurant number three for Dan and his group at 1935 W. Northern Avenue in Phoenix.

“It’s been a pleasure serving the Phoenix community, and we look forward to continued success in an incredibly high growth market,” says longtime franchisee Ong, who currently operates eight Rally’s restaurants in both Arizona and California.

Checkers and Rally’s operates under the Rally’s flag in the Phoenix area. With more than 800 restaurants, Checkers & Rally’s is excited to bring our innovative restaurant format with a proven track record, national presence and a strong return on investment for franchise owners. —Kris McDonald, vice president of development at Checkers & Rally’s (www.checkersfranchising.com)

As people continue to travel and relocate to Arizona, local marijuana dispensaries are seeing a proportional growth in sales. According to Marijuana Moment, Arizonans spent more than $1.4 billion on marijuana products in the first year it was legal. Between the legalization of marijuana last year and the rising popularity of cannabis during the pandemic, Arizona is a prime example of how the cannabis industry is exploding.

Arizona has seen significant population growth since the legalization of marijuana, adding nearly 109,000 new residents last year according to Arizona Capitol Times. With this influx of new people, all retailers, including cannabis retailers, are benefiting from a larger customer pool.

Since recreational use was legalized, GreenPharms, a local dispensary, reported a 14% growth at both its Mesa and Flagstaff dispensaries. The staff at GreenPharms has also reported an increase in out-of-state IDs coming through the doors. This is likely due to the influx of people moving to Arizona, as well as visitors who may not have access to recreational marijuana in their own state.

Not only are sales benefitting dispensary owners, but the funds for recreational marijuana use have been put back into the community. According to the Arizona Department of Revenue, from February of 2021 to May of 2022, the state has received a total of $308,473,522 in marijuana taxes. These funds support communities across the state through an education tax, state general fund and marijuana excise tax (16% on all products).

Marijuana is a billion-dollar industry and is projected to have a market worth of $70.6 billion by 2028, according to a study by Grand View Research, Inc. Therefore, the cannabis industry is here to stay in Arizona and, as a dispensary owner, I am excited to see the innovation and growth in the coming years. —Marie Saloum, owner and founder of GreenPharms (greenpharms.com), a signature “deli-style” dispensary founded in 2013, with a large hybrid cultivation facility and extraction laboratory onsite