Scottsdale restaurateur Sam Fox soon will be able to walk to work, not to mention to shop and dine.
Fox is moving into a $3.25 million penthouse condominium in Scottsdale Waterfront Residences, a two-tower complex that overlooks two of his restaurants and the headquarters of his company, Fox Restaurant Concepts.
"We own a lot of real estate at the Waterfront," Fox said. "I guess you could say we are big believers in the Waterfront."
He closed escrow on the 13th-floor condo this week and plans to move there in a couple months. The 198-unit complex at Scottsdale and Camelback roads is within walking distance of Scottsdale Fashion Square mall and several restaurants, including Olive & Ivy and Sauce, which are owned by Fox. His office is above Sauce.
Maude loves pets
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has rolled out a big gun in its campaign against Phoenix-based PetSmart: one of the Golden Girls.
PETA, which earlier this year accused the pet supply chain of being cruel to small animals sold in its stores, released a letter that TV actress Bea Arthur of Golden Girls and Maude fame sent to PetSmart CEO Phil Francis, asking that the company stop selling pets.
The letter read, in part: "This was a store that, according to one of your executives, has ‘an outstanding pet care team and an exceptional pet care record.’ But PETA’s findings show a sad and different story. . . . I look forward to the day when you stop selling live animals. Until then, I cannot in good conscience shop at PetSmart, and neither can my friends or family."
PETA accused PetSmart of failing to provide proper veterinary care to small animals after an undercover activist worked in a store in Scottsdale and another in Connecticut. She shot photos and videos of sick and dead animals, including hamsters, rats, lizards, chinchillas and birds, that had been pulled from the sales floor.
A spokeswoman for PetSmart, which denied mistreating the animals, said the company had no comment about Arthur’s letter. But the spokeswoman noted that PETA has vowed in writing to conduct a negative campaign against PetSmart if it refused to quit selling birds and small pets.
"PETA’s actions are not about the care we provide for the pets in our stores as much as about this group wanting to impose its agenda on us and those who enjoy pets," the company says in a statement posted at petsmart.com/facts.
Not to mention . . .
. . . The Wall Street Journal’s new top editor, managing editor Marcus Brauchli, announced a massive reorganization Wednesday of the financial daily’s top editorial ranks.
And he crafted the changes right here in the Valley, according to BusinessWeek.
The magazine said on its Web site that Brauchli and several other of the paper’s top editors met this week at the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North to finalize the reorganization.
The Arizona Republic
