WILLIAMS—The Dollar General building is complete only waiting shelves and stock. They are currently seeking applicants for jobs. You can apply at their web site.
Category Archives: Business
Oldest trading post in Williams opens
WILLIAMS—After a long hiatas, the Turquoise Tepee—the oldest trading post in Williams—opened this month.
The Tepee is owned by a fourth generation of the Wheeler family. They opened in the late seventies moving to their present location.
The family purchases jewelery and other items directly from native American artists in the region. They can even give you a bio of the artists themselves.
While there, you should also check out the paintings on the wall which were painted by the late Drake Seaman; a popular local artist for many years.
Chevron in Williams now takes Safeway points
WILLIAMS—Have you built up those Safeway gas points and cannot wait to find a Safeway gas station in which to redeem them? The Chevron station in Williams on the end of Grand Canyon Blvd. has made a deal with Safeway to allow you to redeem them by swiping your Safeway card. You can save up to a dollar a gallon. Check with the clerk at the station for more details.
Arizona Collectibles and Firearms gun show this weekend
WILLIAMS—The Arizona Collectibles and Firearms gun show provides the perfect venue for fathers this weekend. The gun show will be held this Saturday and Sunday the 15th and 16th at the Bob Dean Rodeo Grounds in Williams. The show times are from 9 am to 5 pm and 9am to 4 pm respectively. The cost to enter the show is $7 for one day and $10 for both days. Look for a $2 discount coupon. Gun show dealers and purchasers are reminded that they are obligated to follow all applicable laws.
Memorial Day recap
WILLIAMS—A parade, the Kiwanis Swap Meet, and a free swim were the order of the day for the Williams Memorial. The members of the American Legion Cordova Post #13 lined route 66 with the American flag on Saturday and Monday.
The Grand Marshal for the parade was Carla Lugo of Williams. Carla is an Army as a logistics readiness officer set to deploy to Afghanistan in July. Leading the Grand Marshal was the American Legion Cordova Post #13 color guard.
The Bearizona shuttle made its debut this week also participating in the parade. The bus makes a run throughout the City of Williams to pick up passengers destined for the park. The bus picks up starting at Denny’s Restaurant at ten-minutes after the hour. At twenty-minutes after the hour the shuttle picks up at the Williams Visitor Center with a pick-up at the Wild West Junction at the half-hour. The shuttle bus allows you to visit the park and take the open-air bus, take in the raptor show and stroll through the walk-through area. The normal park entry fees apply.
Two new businesses opened just in time for the holiday weekend. Glenn and Linda opened Treats N Treasures candy store next to the Sultana for their mother. The store features candy, ice cream, sodas and other great treats and souvenirs you won’t find in other stores. Ivo, with wife Christine, have opened up their beautifully decorated restaurant next to Addicted to Deals.
The free swim signaled the opening of the Williams Aquatic Center for the summer season. The Kiwanis Swap meet brings deals into Williams that cannot be found elsewhere. The swap meet attracts visitors—including a lot foreign tourist. The swap meet also causes less of a blight on the landscape of Williams than the smokers allowed on the sidewalk outside of the bars.
Ivo’s restaurant opens tonight
Ivo stands in front of his restaurant
Christine adds finishing touches to indoor scenery.
Well, the answer is today is the day. Ivo will have his Grand Opening tonight at 5 p.m.
While Ivo worked on the internal equipment and other matters, Christine turned her talent to the internal decor turning the walls into an indoor forest.
So if you are looking for a place to eat tonight, you can check out Williams’ newest restaurant.
Arizona Firearms and Collectibles gun show this weekend in Flagstaff
FLAGSTAFF—The Arizona Collectibles and Firearms gun show will be held this Saturday and Sunday the 18th and 19th at the Coconino County Fairgrounds on Ft. Tuthill loop. The show times are from 9 am to 5 pm and 9 am to 4 pm respectively. The cost to enter the show is $7 for one day and $10 for both days. Look for a $2 discount coupon. Gun show dealers and purchasers are reminded that they are obligated to follow all applicable laws.
Williams enters the fray – Dollar General coming
WILLIAMS—The Dollar General being built on Grand Canyon Blvd next to the closed Rosa’s Cantina is coming along. One worker said that they planned to be open in March, but have to wait until mid-June to complete some of the ground work. It is not clear if they will meet the June time frame even though the building may be ready.
What might be more interesting about this chain coming is it might be seen by industry watchers as another “base” in the “war” between Family Dollar, Dollar General and Walmart. One dollar store-watching web site notes that consumers are reporting that people are generally finding the best deals at Dollar General and Walmart—particularly the so-called “Super Walmarts”—when comparing them between Family Dollar and local grocery stores.
Bloomberg reported that the January increase in payroll taxes may have impacted the two low-priced chains. The article says that the resurgent Walmart store may also be impacting the retail sales of Dollar General and Family Dollar; no. 1 and 2 respectively in this market.
Family Dollar, for example, suffered its biggest loss in twelve-years dropping 13% because of the 2% increase in payroll tax that hurts the poor more than anyone. Analysts Bloomberg surveyed said that Dollar General was moving into its slowest growth period in three years. They had to cut holiday pricing over Christmas.
While most residents of Williams wait and purchase essentials either through Sam’s Club or Walmart, it appears that Dollar General is hoping to keep customers local in Williams and perhaps take in some of the tourist trade. This might actually be a good time for Dollar General, in fact, since Williams recently lifted the tax on food.
It remains to be seen what form of imaginative pricing that Safeway will have to develop to meet the new threat to their market share.
Mom’s store opens, appropriately, in time for Mother’s Day
Treats and Treasures – 309 West Route 66
WILLIAMS—Glenn and Linda have been working for several months to open Treats n Treasures at 309 W Route 66 next to the Sultana Theater. They are the friendly managers for the store owned by their mother. Although they have not received all of their stock, they managed to open, appropriately, just before Mother’s Day.
Treats N Treasures carries a varied assortment of candies from the new to the kind that your grandfather used to buy. An interesting item is a cup with a mix of candies from the 60s, 70s or 80s. Something that you usually do not find in a candy store is a variety of fresh fruit for the health crowd. Also in stock is a variety of gourmet popcorn with flavors such as peanut butter cup, white truffle Parmesan and cookies and cream. Beef and pork jerky is also available.
In addition they have gourmet ice cream with your choice of waffle, sugar or old fashioned cone. For the morning crowd, they have coffee and gourmet pastries.
The store carries a wide variety of sodas with cane sugar instead of the more dangerous high fructose corn syrup. The selection includes a variety of flavors and brands. It would probably not be too hard to guess where Capone comes from. They also have a brand called Moxie which was sold in the early 1800’s originally as an elixir to cure all ills.
They carry souvenirs, like many of the stores. Their selection is a little bit different from the normal Route 66 fare available at other souvenir shops. The shop carries a limited selection of collectible coins and paper money such as a colorized Grand Canyon park two dollar bill and silver Arizona coin.
Their differing variety of stock should make this store a welcome addition to the Route 66 business community.
Bearizona needs your dandelions
WILLIAMS—Are you out doing your spring yard work preparing to plant your garden? Do you have to dig out all of those pesky dandelions? Bearizona will take them off your hands.
They are requesting the weeds on their Facebook page.
Got Dandelion weeds? Our bears love dandelions!
Instead of throwing the weeds out, feel free to drop
off your freshly pulled dandelion weeds at the front
gate when you come.The bears will thank you!
We have invited them to bring one or two of the bears for lunch in our yard sometime. No response yet.