November 5 - 18, 2016 www.SanTanSun.com
Sibley’s West: A small-business success story in downtown Chandler BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI
John and Michelle Wolfe have done their part to celebrate the Grand Canyon State. Their 6-year-old downtown Chandler store, Sibley’s West, has become the goto spot for all things Arizona. Everything from prickly-pear salad dressing to turquoise necklaces to State Forty Eight apparel is available. In October, Sibley’s West doubled in size to 5,000 square feet, taking over the spot previously occupied by a boutique. “What makes us unique is everything is from Arizona—an Arizona artist, an Arizona business,” said John, who calls Michelle “the brains of the store.” “We started off with 55 suppliers. Now we have more than 200. “For the last year or so, it was a little cramped in here. It was just a narrow, 25foot store. Then the opportunity came up with our landlord to go into the space next to us.” The landlord hired contractors to cut three holes in the wall of the 100-yearold building. The bricks were removed individually by hand, so they could be preserved for future projects. Variety of products The Downtown Chandler Community Partnership’s Business of the Year in 2015, Sibley’s West supplies products by noted artist Diana Madaras of Tucson, Armadilla
John Wolfe calls wife Michelle the brains behind Sibley’s West. STSN photo by Kimberly Carrillo
Wax Works of Prescott, Dirt Shirts of Mesa and the Queen Creek Olive Mill. New additions include artist Nikki Seiling of Peoria, who paints Southwest wine
Changes to sign restrictions may be coming after judge’s decision BY STEVEN SOLOMON
Chandler sign-regulation categories may be pared from nearly a dozen to just five following an Arizona judge’s order that the municipality must abide with a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. That action ruled Gilbert’s sign restrictions unconstitutional. The changes could be effective as soon as March. The Phoenix-based Goldwater Institute brought the lawsuit on behalf of the owners of four commercial shopping centers in Chandler: North Park Plaza LLC, Pollack Business Park North LLC, Putz LLC and University Central Center LLC. Covers Plus, a small-business tenant of one of the property owners, was also a plaintiff. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin issued the order
Oct. 18. “One of the messages out of the Goldwater Institute and the Supreme Court decision was ‘Chandler, you need to update your sign code,’ which is what we are doing,” said Jeff Kurtz, Chandler’s planning administrator. “The crazy part is this exercise is going on across every municipality in America.” Chandler’s signage code is complicated, argued the Goldwater Institute in court, dividing signs up into 11 categories based on the messages they convey, and imposed different size and location requirements to the different categories. The Goldwater Institute argued that Chandler imposes different rules for signs based on what they say and who is saying it, in direct see
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glasses; folk artist Charles Davison of Superior; and puzzle-maker Master Pieces of Oro Valley. Chandler-based State Forty Eight,
which has sold its apparel through Sibley’s West for some time, appreciates the expansion. “The expansion of Sibley’s is great news for State Forty Eight,” said Michael Spangenberg, co-founder of State Forty Eight. “Sibley’s carries many styles of SFE as it is, so the expansion allows them to add even more of our product. We love working with our hometown retailer for many reasons, but most importantly they offer exceptional service to their customers. Sibley’s is a great partner and we hope to continue to shared success.” An impressive prickly-pear display is topped with a sculpture by Martin Ibarra. “One of the unique things about our store is prickly pear,” Wolfe said. “There are a lot of people who make products with prickly pear because it has an antioxidant trait. We have jellies. We have the syrup and candies. One lady makes soap, another does popcorn. There are hot sauce and barbecue sauce, and a creamy dressing, which is neat. “With these prickly-pear products, we wanted to create a fixture. If you see the yard art outside, that was done by a Chandler artist, Martin Ibarra. We’ve carried his stuff for years. It’s spectacular. It’s exactly what we wanted to do with the prickly pear.” The expansion features a stage with see
Family continues to raise funds for couple killed in San Diego BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI
Family members are continuing to raise funds for the funerals of Cruz Elias and AnnaMarie Contreras, a Chandler couple who were among those killed when a truck plunged off a bridge in San Diego in October. Their nephew, Jacob Contreras, organized the GoFundMe account for Cruz, 52, and AnnaMarie, 50. As of press time, it has raised $27,000 of its $30,000 goal. To donate money, visit https:// www.gofundme.com/chicano-parkcontreras-family-fund-2umbpgk. AnnaMarie was a teaching assistant at Jane Dee Hull Elementary in Chandler. Cruz mentored young men and women to improve their lives, the GoFundMe account read. Called “beautiful souls” on the GoFundMe page, the couple were married for more than 35 years.
“Cruz and AnnaMarie played a vital role in the fabric of our family,” Jacob Contreras said. “The loss is insurmountable.” The Contrerases had three daughters and two grandchildren. Avid motorcyclists, Cruz and AnnaMarie fostered more than 20 children. Richard Anthony Sepolio, 24, who was stationed at the naval base on Coronado Island, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to the crash, including four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence causing injury or death, and four great bodily injury allegations, according to NBC San Diego. However, his lawyer told the TV station that Sepolio was cut off while driving, driven into the side of the bridge and forced off the ramp.
F E AT U R E STO R I E S
Check out our Family Fun Section! You will not want to miss any of the fun events listed on Family Fun calendar this month.
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Sibley’s West: A small-business success story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . My Sister’s Closet celebrates 25 years of charity work . . . . . . . . . . Mother honors late son with fundraiser for fellow athletes . . . . . Veteran restaurateurs bring fun Ginger Monkey to S. Chandler . . ‘Letters Home’ tackles Afghanistan, Iraq conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Page 1 business . . . . . . . . . Page 23 youth . . . . . . . . . . . Page 29 neighbors . . . . . . . Page 45 arts . . . . . . . . . . . Page 60 community . . . . . . .
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