Business

Toy Barn puts high-end spin on garages

BY LAURA LATZKO

Contributor

Toy Barn Luxury Garage Ownership doesn’t just offer storage for cars, boats, RVs, racecars, motorcycles and off-road vehicles.

It’s a community for vehicle enthusiasts.

Units come with amenities such as prewired internet and TV access, plumbing, insulated walls and ceilings, RV outlets, electric garage doors, community restrooms and access to clubhouses.

The father-and-son team behind Toy Barn, Paul and Jason Wesley, have expanded its business since opening its first location in 2010 at Cave Creek and Peak View roads. Originally from Ohio, the two were residential land subdividers before they became involved in the luxury garage business in 2008.

After opening a location near Chandler Airport last year, Jason said the company continues to expand.

“We were really trying to accommodate people who lived in the North Scottsdale communities who didn’t have any additional storage options. It’s real-estate ownership, so it’s an investment versus just paying rent on a storage facility,” he said.

“A lot of them have been around 10 years. They have double-lot equity. They get the tax benefits that come with real-estate ownership.”

Because businesses like this were few, they had to figure it out on their own. “It’s extremely niche,” Jason said. “There was no roadmap for getting into the garage/condominium business when we did.”

Their time in the luxury garage business has been a learning process. They have continued to adapt, especially with delays in new constructions during the pandemic.

“We have learned quite a bit about the construction process, the challenges associated with it, how to manage those challenges, managing schedules and people’s expectations, what works and doesn’t work,” Jason said. “We try to incorporate the lessons learned from every community into the new one.”

The two men have their own “toys” that they enjoy in their spare time. Paul

Jason Wesley said that he and his dad Paul Wesley seized on Toy Barn as a real estate investment opportunity and opened one in Chandler last year.

(Pablo Robles/Staff Photographer)

See TOY BARN on page 30

Billiards-bowling venue opening in Chandler

BY ASHLYN ROBINETTE

Staff Writer

Ready to socialize again?

Chandler’s entertainment scene is growing as a new billiards and bowling joint with a “be social” motto plans to open soon near Chandler Fashion Center. 810 Billiards & Bowling, a South Carolina-based entertainment concept, is opening its first two Arizona locations in Phoenix and Chandler within the next few weeks.

Husband and wife Ronak and Poonam Manek are the franchise owners of the Chandler location at 3455 W. Frye Road.

“We feel as though people are ready to get out and start having a social life again,” Poonam said. “Meeting with friends and getting out with the family or doing whatever is up their alley, pun intended.”

Mike Siniscalchi founded 810 Billiards & Bowling in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 2015. Now, Siniscalchi is expanding the franchise beyond its three existing locations in South Carolina to the Arizona market.

“We’re excited to be a part of post-COVID as Phoenix returns to life,” Siniscalchi said.

810 Billiards & Bowling is family-friendly entertainment “with an upscale twist,” Poonam said.

The Chandler location has 12 bowling lanes – eight regular and four reserved for private parties – as well as an arcade, shuffleboard, table games, cornhole, darts and five billiards tables.

The entertainment center stands out because it offers a full-service restaurant and bar with the option to bowl, Poonam said. It is not a bowling alley with the option to eat. 810’s restaurant specializes in American comfort food, Poonam said. All pizza is made from scratch, and the menu has options like burgers, fries, salads, wings and specialty cocktails.

“We want to give you that elevated feeling without elevating prices,” Poonam said.

Because their motto is “be social,” 810 Billiards & Bowling will emphasize social aspects and service. “Every single person who walks out of here needs to walk out with a smile on their face,” Poonam said.

Originally, the Maneks had no interest in 810 Billiards & Bowling.

Before moving to Arizona, Ronak and Poonam lived in Chicago, where

TOY BARN from page 29

owns vintage Indian motorcycles, and Jason is an aviation enthusiast with a Cirrus plane.

Jason said he’s also interested in Porsches, and his father enjoys ’60s-era Corvettes.

One of the biggest perks of owning a luxury garage business is occasionally clients allow the team to try out vehicles.

“It’s always nice when they say, ‘Just take the Porsche for the day,’” Jason said.

Jason and Paul have fi ve locations, including their new one near the Chandler Municipal Airport.

The two are planning a location in Scottsdale at 73rd Street and Helm Drive, which is projected to open in 2023. They are taking reservations for it. This will be their second Scottsdale location, the fi rst being the Greenway Road and 78th Street that opened in 2019.

The fi rst location has been sold out since the spring of 2020, and they wanted to off er additional options for those needing storage in Scottsdale. The fi rst location in Scottsdale is 24,000 feet, with 18 units. The new location will be 52,000 square feet with 52 units.

Owners will be able to purchase one or multiple units of 1,200 to 6,000 square feet of space. “The other one was just too small,” Jason said. “We didn’t have anything to accommodate people who needed a larger space. This time around, we will be able to accommodate signifi cant-sized garages. The fi rst one was designed for cars only. This new one will accommodate larger motorcoaches, larger boats, larger car collections.”

Jason expects that the new location will serve residents of Old Town, North Scottsdale, the Gainey and McCormick Ranch areas and Paradise Valley.

Jason said there has been little turnover in units, and some owners have spaces in diff erent facilities.

He said building a garage can be expensive, and many communities have CC&R regulations prohibiting additions.

The Toy Barns off er a luxury garage experience for those who are downsizing or needing space for their vehicles, family heirlooms or automobilia such as neon signs or vintage gas pumps. They are gated with 24-hour access.

Adjacent clubhouses come with amenities such as high-end fi nishes, plush seating, fl at-screen TVs, full kitchens and bathrooms.

Jason said he and his father wanted to create not just storage facilities but close-knit communities.

“I think what separates us from a regular storage facility or an industrial park is the fact that we are trying to cultivate a community of like-minded individuals. The facility functions more like a private club than it does a warehouse,” Jason said.

Unit owners can customize the units with touches such as Epoxy fl ooring and half baths. They are expected to adhere to CC&R guidelines, such as not operating businesses out of their units. Many of the unit owners spend time at the facilities, working on their own vehicles or getting time to themselves.

“Some of the retired guys who don’t golf, that’s where they spend all their time. That’s what they do. They tinker in the garage,” Jason said.

Toy Barn’s location near Chandler Airport, which opened last year, provides a safe and secure “garage” for local owners of luxury vehi-

cles and boats. (Special to SanTan Sun News)

The Toy Barn 8585 E. Hartford Drive, Suite 114, Scottsdale 480-419-0101, toybarnstorage.com

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Veterans still need help finding civilian jobs

BY ALYSSA MARKSZ

Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – An employment program for veterans that began in the days after 9/11 paid off last year when the COVID-19 pandemic rattled employment for vets in the state and across the country, an advocate told House lawmakers Wednesday.

“Communities in Arizona are no different than communities across the United States. We have seen the significant impact of the pandemic on service members, veterans and their families,” said Thomas Winkel, director of the Arizona Coalition for Military Families.

What is different in Arizona, Winkel said, is that public and private organizations have been working together for years now to establish “a robust and sustainable effort to assist veterans with securing meaningful employment.”

There are still challenges. While national veteran unemployment went from 3.1 percent in 2019 to 6.5 percent in 2020, the veteran jobless rate in Arizona for the same period went from 4.9 percent to 9.6 percent.

Winkel was part of a panel testifying at a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on veteran employment during the pandemic.

Like all other sectors, veteran unemployment rose sharply in 2020 – although it continued to be lower than jobless for the general population nationally. But witnesses said there is still room for improvement in government programs that are supposed to help soldiers transition from military to civilian life.

Chris Thorne, co-chair of the Military Affairs Advisory Council in San Diego, said employers are eager to hire vets, but that too often the transition process “does not adequately prepare transitioning service members for what comes next.”

“To put it quite simply, transitioning service members are walking into a foreign culture that speaks different languages, acts different ways and values different outcomes,” Thorne said, adding that it is not enough to identify a job that requires a skill-set learned in the military.

The unemployment rate for veterans nationally jumped from an average of 3.1 percent in 2019 to 6.5 percent over the course of 2020. Witnesses said the national veteran jobless rate got as high as 11.7 percent at the height of the pandemic. Still, veterans did better than the overall workforce in those years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said average unemployment rose from 3.6 percent for the general labor force in 2019 to 8 percent last year. But better national averages did not mean some vets were not suffering, Winkel said.

“Unemployment, underemployment and reduced hours have resulted in increases in food insecurity, as well as requests for assistance with housing, utilities, transportation and other essential needs,” he said.

The pandemic also forced the cancellation of in-person job fairs, requiring veterans and sponsoring agencies to quickly adapt to virtual events.

Jeremy Villanueva, the assistant national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, said his group last year “hosted 92 job fairs, with 63 held entirely online – an increase of the 12-15 virtual job fairs that DAV had hosted annually prior to the pandemic.”

“The total attendees for these events in 2020 was 32,438, with 5,290 job offers extended to participants. So far in 2021, DAV has held another 30 job fairs, all of them virtual,” Villanueva said.

Winkel said the challenge of virtual job-hunting has had an upside for some vets, opening up opportunities for networking and career preparation that were not there before. It has also introduced employers to the benefits of remote work, which is ideally suited to many military spouses, he said.

“Some veterans have become more proactive in seeking out educational opportunities like certifications and credentialing to improve, or upskill, their career potential,” Winkel said.

Amy Bolton of the Arizona Coalition for Military Families said the coalition views the issue of veteran unemployment in Arizona as well-managed, but added that, “We don’t reach every veteran, so we’re not going to stop until we do.”

Winkel said it helps that the coalition has been working at it for more than a decade, growing to “serve all military members, veterans and family members, with a network of over 200 Arizona veteran-supportive employers and over 450 partner organizations, that provide over 3,000 resources.”

The state and federal initiatives, services, programs and resources offered to Arizona veterans are compiled in one network called Be Connected, which Winkel said provides “a data-driven and human-centered approach to advancing economic opportunity.”

Real estate investment trusts have pitfalls

BY DR. HAROLD WONG

Guest Writer

My column last month on the importance of knowing Social Security rules included a case study of how a long-term federal employee could have $75,680 total Social Security (SS) and federal pension income by knowing the rules instead of $47,760, or $27,920 less.

You can read this by going to drharoldwong.com and clicking the “Articles” link at the top of the home page.

Ever since the 2008 financial panic and stock market collapse, normal investment alternatives for retirement income are terrible. Here are the yields as of 5/24/2021: .10 percent to .50 percent for bank interest; 1.60 percent yield for US 10-year Treasury Bonds; 2.30 percent yield for US 30-year Treasury Bonds; and 2.02 percent average dividends for S&P 500 companies since Jan. 1, 2000.

Because of ridiculously low levels of interest rates, most people are taking way too much risk in the stock market.

When I see folks that qualify for their free strategy session, it’s not unusual that they have 80-95 percent of their life savings exposed to stock market risk. If the stock market has another major crash, they may never recover.

Note that during the 2000-2002 DotCom Crash and the 2008-2009 financial panic and real estate crash, the stock market dropped by about 50 percent.

In order to double or triple these terrible returns listed above, one has no choice but to explore alternative investments. These would include real estate investment formulas, private pensions, and solar business equipment leasing.

One could consider Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which often specialize in different types of real estate. To maintain favorable tax status, they have to distribute 90 percent of earnings via a dividend to the securities owners.

Typically, investors purchase REITs for their dividends, which currently average more than double the dividends on S&P 500 companies and the 30-year Treasury bond.

Warning: The purchase of REITS is a security, much like owning a stock or mutual fund and you can lose principal. On April 15, 2020, vs. one year previous, there were major losses in the REIT property indices due to the coronavirus pandemic. The sectors that declined were -15 percent for multifamily; -17 percent for office; -25 percent for health care; -48 percent for retail; and -53 percent for hotel. In contrast, it was +34 percent for data centers; +31 percent for cell towers; and +14 percent for industrial. Source: Nareit.com.

Note that one can often obtain higher and more stable returns by owning private real estate directly and not through a REIT.

Private pension funds operate like Social Security or any other pension. The longer you wait to trigger your retirement income, the more you get.

A nurse was age 62 in 2014 and deposited $270,000 in a private pension. When she triggers her retirement income at age 70, she will receive $27,000 per year guaranteed for life. That’s a 10 percent rate of cash flow.

Solar business equipment leasing, allows investors to be part of the massive push by government for “The New Green Deal” and a cleaner environment. Cash flows can average 5-7 percent annually.

However, one must also add the tax savings. If one buys $100,000 of solar equipment that is leased to businesses, there’s a 26 percent tax credit and a potential $87,000 immediate deduction by using Section 179 of the tax code.

It’s not unusual that high-income taxpayers will save $50,000 in tax, which doubles the tax-adjusted rate of return and reduces their total personal tax bill.

Free live seminars and lunch: 10:45 a.m. June 12 at The Old Spaghetti Factory, 3155 W. Chandler Blvd. #9, Chandler; and 10: 30 a.m. June 13 at The Hyatt Place 3535 W. Chandler Blvd.

Topic is “Double Your Social Security & Other Retirement Income and Pay No Tax!”

To RSVP, please contact Dr. Harold Wong at 480-706-0177 or harold_wong@hotmail.com. His website is drharoldwong.com.

Dr. Harold Wong earned his Ph.D. in economics at University of California/ Berkeley and has appeared on over 400 TV/radio programs.

BILLIARDS from page 29

Poonam was a nurse and Ronak was a pharmacist. They previously owned pharmacies in Chicago and ran them for years until an opportunity came to sell them. Since they had always wanted to move to Arizona, they took the opportunity.

After selling their businesses, Ronak and Poonam took time to catch up on life and spent time with their two children.

“After about a year, we kind of got a little stir crazy and knew we needed to do something,” Poonam said.

“We are both entrepreneurial and have that spirit of wanting to get out and try new things. That’s when we started to look at things outside of healthcare and explore diff erent franchises.”

The Maneks were actually going to run a preschool franchise, Poonam said. However, on the day they were going to sign off on it, Ronak spoke with Siniscalchi about 810 Billiards and Bowling and told Poonam to call him.

At fi rst, Poonam was hesitant about 810 as she already envisioned herself in the preschool scenario. But after her conversation with Siniscalchi, the rest was history.

“The way Mike explained everything changed my perspective,” Poonam said. “We are his fi rst franchises, his fi rst venture outside of his corporate locations, so the amount of attention and hand-holding we would get from Mike in the process of working in the entertainment industry was reassuring.”

The Maneks started their process over a year and a half ago and were faced with derailed construction and other setbacks due to COVID-19 restrictions, scheduling and availability. They say that things are taking a turn for the better now.

“There is value in getting social life back up and running, but doing it safely,” Poonam said. 810 Billiards & Bowling will take every safety precaution necessary and follow COVID-19 guidelines, which includes having extensive sanitization and mask requirements.

The opening date and offi cial operating hours for 810 Billiards & Bowling are not yet fi nalized. It is predicted that they will open in a few weeks and that their doors will open at 2 p.m. on weekdays and at 11 a.m. to midnight on weekends.

To keep an eye on an opening announcement: check out 810bowling. com.

Co-owner Poonam Manek stands amid the arcade games she and husband Ronak Manek have included in their entertainment lineup.

Getyourstudent backon track.

Registrationnowopenfor SummerSchoolandthe 2021-22SchoolYear.