BUSINESS

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Glendale chef leaves Microsoft to sell pastries

BY HALEY ZIOMEK Special for Cronkite News

It’s not yet 10 a.m. on a breezy Saturday in October. The sun is tucked behind the clouds and the smells of kettle corn and hand lotion waft through the air. Dogs of all breeds and sizes are nosing their way up to people for a pat on the head or chuck under the chin.

“I got the bourbon today. I got the bourbon-dipped cinnamon rolls,” said an enthusiastic voice at the southeastern end of the Arrowhead Towne Center Farmers Market.

It’s Slade Grove greeting customers perusing his “wicked good” products, from pumpkin-spice tres leches cakes to peanut butter bacon CBD pet treats.

Grove, 51, will tell you he’s 21 on the internet. He’s a comical guy who turned his hobby making really good pastries into a full-time business — Wicked City Kitchen — that has grown to include pet and body care products.

But it took time to transition from years toiling in the technology sector to become an acclaimed pastry chef. Throughout this experience, he has had to adapt to new spaces and realities.

Baking is in Grove’s blood. His great-grandmother owned a pie shop in Indiana, so he would switch between making pies with her and helping his mom make candies and caramels for Christmas. Grove said he always has baked on the side because it’s “cheaper than therapy.”

But he went to school for IT and marketing and accepted a job with AT&T soon after graduating in 1990. But by 2000, Grove said, working for AT&T and Microsoft had burned him out. After he quit his IT job, his baking hobby moved closer to becoming a business when a friend persuaded Grove to work part-time at Williams-Sonoma. Grove began conducting cooking demonstrations in-store and teaching classes around metro Phoenix.

Grove continued to bake out of his home in Peoria while working at Williams-Sonoma. One day, he got a call from the Arizona Department of Health Services: His cake was tasty, but he lacked a permit for his home baking. From there, Grove used a friend’s restaurant’s kitchen at night for baking. This lasted about six months until Grove opened his bakery and storefront in the mid-2000s.

Although his pastries drew local and national attention, Grove said the brickand-mortar location wasn’t right for the time. He closed Wicked Bakery on Cave Creek Road almost a decade ago, and Wicked City Kitchen now sells solely at farmers markets and for local delivery in Peoria and Glendale. Grove makes his magic in a commercial kitchen in a house near his Peoria home.

The name of his business, Grove said, comes from his East Coast friends who refer to anything good as “wicked.”

Grove thinks the lack of a permanent storefront helped him through 2020, when many small businesses had to shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses no longer could pay rent, Grove said, but Wicked City Kitchen carried on with its delivery service and experimented with body care products.

But the business still struggled.

Nancy Sanders, the regional director of the Maricopa Small Business Development Center, saw a lot of businesses like Grove’s.

“What the pandemic has taught all businesses is that they, you know, need

Slade Grove goes to the Arrowhead Towne Center Farmers Market every Saturday morning to sell his collection of homemade desserts, pet treats and body care products. (Photos by Haley Ziomek/Special for Cronkite News)

SEE PASTRIES PAGE 13

PASTRIES FROM PAGE 12 to be able to adapt to changing conditions,” she said.

Census data found that more than half of small-business owners report that the pandemic has had a moderate or largely negative impact on them.

With many farmers markets closed, Wicked City Kitchen needed to fi nd a new way to get out the word. The biggest problem last year was branding and reaching his customers, Grove said.

A former business partner, Aimee Rose, 37, of Phoenix, said it’s because “Slade is incredibly dedicated” that Wicked City works. “He does research you wouldn’t believe to make sure he’s selling the most up-to-date” products.

But Grove said a lot of his items come from necessity. Not only is Wicked City Kitchen known for its decadent desserts, it also sells body care products, including muscle balm and bath bombs, infused with CBD. Making hand lotion stemmed from the need to nourish dry baker’s hands. Pet treats arose from customers wanting something to soothe their dog’s skin or help calm pets with anxiety.

Grove said he took cosmetics classes to ensure the quality of his body and pet care products.

Grove credits his time at Williams-Sonoma for helping him turn his passion into a business.

“They fostered my culinary development, which I thought was, you know, amazing,” he said.

Grove has earned more than a dozen culinary awards and appeared on the local Fox, NBC and ABC affi liates. He calls it “the Oprah effect” because his red velvet cupcakes gained national attention when Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King visited his Phoenix store back in 2006.

Grove’s Bourbon Pecan Pie and Sweet and Spicy Infused Caramels also have won Best of Phoenix awards and been recognized by Food Network Magazine.

Grove said the recognition for his food is nice, but he’s happy to continue at farmers markets — because that’s where the people are.

For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

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Credit Union West employees donate to rescue group

BY GLENDALE STAR STAFF

In their last 2021 EmployeesCARE donation, Credit Union West employees gave $5,257.50 to United Animal Friends, a nonprofi t animal rescue organization. United Animal Friends was chosen because of its ongoing work to fi nd forever homes for pets in Yavapai County.

United Animal Friends is a volunteer-based, nonprofi t group that provides resources and rescue services for animals and those who care for them in Yavapai County. In addition to fi nding homes for animals, the group also runs impactful programs like reduced-cost spay and neuter procedures and a community pet food bank, and provides funds for emergency medical care.

Since its founding in 2003, United Animal Friends has placed more than 6,000 pets in loving homes, helped spay or neuter more than 20,000 cats and dogs, provided more than 400,000 pounds of pet food for families who couldn’t afford to feed their pets, and funded over 1,000 emergency veterinary services.

To support their efforts, Credit Union West leaders presented Joellyn Nusbaum, president of United Animal Friends, with a donation check on Dec. 29 at their Prescott branch location.

“This donation will help house, feed and care for countless pets in the coming year,” Nusbaum said. “We are so grateful to be able to continue to provide these services for residents of Yavapai County and their pets.”

This charitable gift was made possible through Credit Union West’s employee-funded program called EmployeesCARE. The program raises funds for a local nonprofi t organization selected by employees each quarter. In 2021, President and CEO Karen Roch challenged employees to increase donations and help nonprofi ts struggling amid the pandemic by providing her own personal funds to match the proBY GLENDALE STAR STAFF

Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, brokered the sale of Arrowhead Ranch by Baron, a 256-unit multifamily asset in the Arrowhead Ranch master-planned community in Glendale.

The $101.5 million sales price equates to $396,484 per unit.

“One of only four assets constructed within the Northwest Valley’s most coveted neighborhood, Arrowhead Ranch by Baron’s low-density site plan and the lack of nearby developable land make for a generational investment, protected from the risk of future multifamily development,” said Steve Gebing, IPA executive managing director.

Gebing and Cliff David, IPA executive managing director, represented the seller, Baron Properties, and procured the buyer, Decron Properties.

“The ongoing economic growth of the region’s key industries, including fi nance, health care, business services and education, is driving durable job growth as single-family home prices are surging,” David added.

“Average and median annual household incomes within one mile of the community are $115,600 and $94,100, respectively.”

Arrowhead Ranch by Baron’s location, adjacent to Loop 101/the Agua Fria Freeway, gives residents immediate accessibility to employers such as USAA, Discover Financial Services, Banner Health, Honeywell, Abrazo, Arizona State University, AAA and Wells Fargo. Shopping and entertainment are nearby along the Bell Road Retail Corridor, at the Arrowhead Towne Center, inside the P83 Entertainment District and at the Peoria Sports Complex.

Completed in 1996 on 16 acres in a mountainous setting amid winding lakes, the open-concept apartment homes at Arrowhead Ranch by Baron have large windows, white Shaker-style cabinetry, expansive breakfast bars, full-size washers and dryers and garden-style soaking tubs; select units have gas fi replaces and lake views. Community amenities are framed by lush greenery and include two resort-style swimming pools, spas with expansive sundecks, and lake views.

gram’s donation each quarter.

“I am so proud of our employees for continuing to meet this challenge throughout the year,” Roch said. “Credit Union West is honored to join in United Animal Friends’ mission to help animals and their caregivers.”

This is the fourth and fi nal donation from Credit Union West employees in 2021, totaling more than $18,000. Credit union staff hopes to raise even more funds in 2022.

Anyone interested in donating to or volunteering with United Animal Friends can fi nd more information and resources at unitedanimalfriends.org.

Arrowhead Ranch sale brokered by IPA

The Glendale tar

EVENTS

The Glendale Chamber of Commerce hosts a variety of events each month to help the business community build stronger connections. We invite you or a member from your team to join us at one of these upcoming events. For more information or to register, visit glendaleazchamber.org or call 623-937-4754.

FUEL

7 to 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 7 Desert Rose Pizza & Gastropub 6729 N. 57th Drive, Glendale

Marketing Webinar: Marketing 101 — Start 2022 Off On The Right Foot!

Noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11 Link will be emailed to those registered

Business Over Breakfast

7 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12, Jan. 19 and Jan. 26 Charley’s Sports Grill, 8110 W. Union Hills Drive, Suite 350, Glendale

Business After Hours

The Glendale Chamber of Commerce would like to thank the following members for their support of the chamber and our community.

One year: 2021

• Barrio Queen, Authentic Southern Mexican • Crush IT Services • Budget Blinds of North Glendale • Sounds of Autism Inc.

Two years: 2020

• Absolute Insurance Solutions • B|L Spa • Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center • Cabela’s Bass Pro Shops • S. Paul Moehring: Reaching New Heights • State Farm Insurance: David Dorman Agency • Mayfl ower Cruises & Tours • Law Enforcement Specialists Inc.

Three years: 2019

• The Birth Nest at Catlin Court • Smile Transformation Centre

Four years: 2018

• Morris Barber Shop • Send Out Cards | Dena • Benefi t Commerce Group • Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

Five years: 2017

• Local Legends Six years: 2016

• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW 640) • Sounds of the Southwest Singers

Seven years: 2015

• Luke Family Homes | Balfour Beatty Communities

MEMBER RENEWALS

Eight years: 2014

• Jarnagin & Jarnagin Inc.

Nine years: 2013

• Lamar Advertising Company

13 years: 2009

• StorQuest Self Storage | North 67th Avenue

16 years: 2006

• Haskell Auto

17 years: 2005

• Arizona Broadway Theatre • Valley Collection Service

20 years: 2002

• Wells Fargo Bank Arizona

28 years: 1994

• Arrowhead Towne Center

37 years: 1985

• Arizona State University

38 years: 1984

• Credit Union West

40 years: 1982

• Kiss the Cook

50 years: 1972

• Arizona Automotive Institute

59 years: 1963

• Dignity Memorial | Chapel of the Chimes Mortuary • Glendale Roofi ng & Construction LLC

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The Glendale Chamber of Commerce welcomes the following members and extends a heartfelt thank-you for their support of the chamber and our community.

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Mission:

The Glendale Chamber serves the business community as the voice of commerce, provides programs and services to improve the economic environment for its members, and supplies leadership for improving the quality of life. For area residents and newcomers, the Glendale Chamber is a reliable source for community information and a dependable resource for business referrals.