100 South Mill Avenue

Hometown airline?

Read these articles and do the math:

1. Bizjournal
US Airways Group Inc. CEO Doug Parker, President J. Scott Kirby and other senior executives entered into new compensation agreements with the airline to provide benefits in the event of a takeover or a merger that involved more than 50 percent of the voting power of the company. [...] US Airways is the busiest carrier at Pittsburgh International Airport.

2. Reuters
WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) – US Airways Group Inc (LCC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Doug Parker has received a three-year contract extension through 2011 with no change to his salary, the airline said on Thursday. [...] US Airways shares lost 91 cents, or 4.3 percent, on Thursday to close at $20.06 on the New York exchange. The company’s shares have tumbled more than 60 percent so far this this year.

Is Mr. Parker (who resides in elite Paradise Valley) expecting something to happen in the next three years or less? And has anyone asked whether US Air is actually going to be a tenant (letter of intent or lease) in the new “Tempe Gateway” building at 3rd and Mill?

Who’s getting ready to shake the dust of Tempe from their boots? Not me….

Courtesy of Tempe Diablos Member Randy Duncan.

From our friends at DTC and the City:

Event: Fall Festival of the Arts
The Tempe Festivals of the Arts are routinely ranked among the Top 20 art festivals in the nation by Sunshine Artist magazine, and have received the Pinnacle Award of excellence from the International Festival and Events Association. Held semi-annually, each of the Festivals attracts more than 250,000 guests during its three days in the Spring and Fall, on world-famous Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe, Arizona. A juried show and sale, the Tempe Festivals of the Arts present more than 400 artists in a street-festival atmosphere of booths. The range of fine art and fine craft features unique, handmade pieces in 14 categories that range from woodwork to photography, from ceramics to wearable art, from painting to jewelry—along with other traditional and non-traditional forms of visual arts.
Open free to the public, the event is produced by the Downtown Tempe Community, Inc., managers of the Mill Avenue District.
Dates: Friday 11/30 – Sunday 12/2
Contact: Emily Bradley 480-452-3004
Set-up: Thursday – 5 pm
Event Hours: 10am – Dusk daily
Take down: Sunday – 7 pm
Area of Park: The event will take place in the entire downtown district
Road Closures: Mill Avenue from University to 3rd street
5th Street from Forest to Ash
6th Street from Forest to Maple
7th Street from Mill to Maple
Admission Cost: FREE
Vehicle Passes: No
Outside Vendors: Yes
Expected Attendance: 250,000 over 3 days
For Public information: www.downtowntempe.com

Jared Wilson

Assistant Recreation Coordinator

City of Tempe | Special Events

480-350-5845 (f)

 A prophet is without honor in his own land…Katie Nelson writes:

The typically long-winded mayor used his annual State of the City Address to give a Tempe history lesson, plus lay out where he wants to steer the community.
[...]Hallman titled his speech and repeatedly called Tempe “The great Arizona city.”

Article

Sort of an early new-year’s resolution I have; I really want to build up my list. So, I’m not too proud to be a pest.

  Subscribe here.

I write infrequently — never more than 10 times a year. I don’t write unless I have something entertaining or important to say. But in that case when I do write it is a long, rambling text message–typically with no regard to the edicts of Strunk and Whites Elements of Style. On the other hand, I don’t send attachments or banal coupons.

I look forward to stuffing your inbox…

I sympathize with Mr. Vinton Fugate in ways you would not believe. After years of laboring in the fields, in an area regarded as remote and desolate, the recent arrivals want to dictate what he does with his property. Yet another example of a pioneer who created value in a place now being deprived of that value by those who only recognized it later. Furthermore, Mining Camp exemplifies in the extreme the demographic changes we have had to grapple with at Monti’s over the last ten years or so. Change is the only constant in life. Only museums and cemeteries can afford to remain the same in perpetuity:

AJ area restaurant owner fighting for liquor license

Lynh Bui
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 27, 2007 12:50 PM
For decades, Vinton Fugate knew exactly what customers of the Mining Camp Restaurant wanted: hot plates of hearty food, served family-style with a big touch of the Old West.

It’s a business model that worked for the historic restaurant just outside of Apache Junction since it opened in 1961. But about five years ago, Fugate found that serving ribs, roast chicken and baked beans just wasn’t enough. With the rapid growth and development in Pinal County, the bulk of his customers transformed from snowbirds and senior citizens to Baby Boomers who are more likely to request a glass of wine or a mug of beer with their meals. [...]

Fugate says he needs a liquor license to keep up with his changing customer base, but residents in the area are afraid alcohol at the Mining Camp will disturb their quiet residential neighborhood. [...]When the Mining Camp first opened, Fugate was a dishwasher and the closest homes to the restaurant were about half a mile away. In 1981, Fugate bought a share of the Mining Camp, and Pinal County officials rezoned the land around the restaurant to make way for homes. [...]
“The customers are walking out the door because they can’t have a beer,” Fugate said. Wedding parties, holiday parties and other large groups have more frequently cancelled reservations, Fugate said, once they discover they’d have to go dry at the Mining Camp. [...] Businesses are just getting beat up by the county,” Fugate said.

Steakhouse San Tan Flat has struggled to do business in Pinal County as well. Owner Dale Bell has been found in violation of a county zoning ordinance that does not allow businesses to have dancehalls outdoors. [...]

Fugate said he would continue to fight for a liquor license to keep his restaurant in business, just as Bell has been battling to keep his patrons dancing outdoors.

Meanwhile, I hope you will continue to support your local, independent restaurants–such as Monti’s and the Mining Camp-- against the minions of the Leviathan state…

Here is another piece on the collateral damage from the subprime crisis being inflicted on the restaurant industry:

Restaurants, diners face tough economic times
Experts are calling this the toughest era for restaurant companies in years as regular customers cut back on eating out in response to ongoing economic woes. “It’s a perfect storm, with the industry being bit by several negatives at the same time. And we don’t think gas prices are at the top of that list,” said Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a food industry consulting firm. Many restaurant chains are stepping up their efforts by offering gift cards, takeout options, advertising and other ways to vie for consumer attention. [C]onsumers are having their pockets picked by high energy prices, declining home values, tightening credit from the sub-prime real estate bust and the falling value of the dollar, which makes imported goods more expensive.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. recently reported a nearly 20% decline in third-quarter profit from a year earlier. [...] Brinker International Inc., owner of Chili’s Grill & Bar and other chains, reported a 21% drop in fiscal first-quarter profit. “[F]amilies are coming less often, and so are all of the gardeners and small-business contractors we used to see so often,” he said. “People still have money in their pockets, but they have less of it to spend.”

That all being said, we are doing pretty well at Monti’s, under the circumstances. (Off a little bit from week to week,  but also up here and there.)  At times like this, it is good to have  three generations of customers around town. But I wonder about the cumulative effect of all of these negatve conditions over the next several months.

Here is the descrption of tomorrow’s engagement, from the Usual Suspects:

Nancy Gee & The John Shea Trio

If you missed Nancy’s two appearances at Monti’s Back Door this year, here’s your chance to catch her show. She has packed the house for us twice and gave truly inspiring performances each time. Nancy has been singing for jazz crowds in Phoenix for nearly 25 years. Known as one of the Valley’s Four Divas of Jazz, Nancy has been voted Female Vocalist of the Year by the Arizona Jazz Society, Jazz in AZ and the Phoenix Federation of Musicians. She produced and marketed her first recording, Velvet, in 1990 and CDs Nancy In The Key of Gee in 1996, followed by Dedications in 2003. The combination of her soulful, velvety voice, sparkling personality and an ability to capture and move audiences is why she remains one of the Valley’s top headliner jazz vocalists. Nancy routinely sells out concerts at the Kerr Cultural Center and we are honored to have her at the Back Door. Please come out and celebrate not only Nancy’s return engagement for us, but her 50th wedding anniversary to husband, Bill General. She’s also celebrating a milestone birthday this month, but we’ll let her tell you about that.

Monti’s Back Door is located at 100 S. Mill Avenue (in the back of the building), Tempe, AZ 85283. Shows begin at 5:30 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. Cover charge is only $5 and drink specials and complimentary appetizers are available, along with a light dinner menu. Please call 480.345.2392 for more information on upcoming events.

Live jazz on Mill Avenue is alive and well at Monti’s Back Door!

Casual dining has always been the canary in the mineshaft for declnes in consumer disposable income. I’d be despondent if Black Friday had not started off so well for retailers:

CONSUMERS TO CUT BACK ON DINING OUT, SURVEY FINDS BOSTON – Fifty-nine percent of Americans plan to eat out less over the next three months and only 20 percent intend to order appetizers, desserts or higher-pricedentrees, according to a new consumer survey.
The findings by the RBC Capital Markets securities brokerage firm point to a
further belt-tightening among consumers since August, when 54 percent said
they planned to dine out less and 27 percent anticipated scaling back their
meals. The survey found that 43 percent of respondents are already buying
restaurant meals less often than they did six months ago, up from 39 percent
in August.

For the full story visit:
http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=347946&menu_id=1368

This was a recent event on our patio.  AZ Media Buss and the Cronkite Alumni Chapter held Happy Hour on the Patio at Monti’s La Casa Vieja.  To see photos click here.