Real estate got so expensive, it made me nervous.

Without that equity, we wouldn't have been able to start our business.

We wanted to bring in brands that aren't in Arizona.

People have driven an hour to get here from Cave Creek. This is a big city. Three and a half million people live here. People are sick of strip malls, power malls and chain restaurants.

I've made a career writing about fictitious anti-heroes. To create these worlds, I've spent a lot of time with active members on both sides of the law. And if I had to pick the most interesting of the two, the choice is obvious - we all love the guys in black.

These two companies gave a must-have lesson for all retailers, Sharper Image combed the globe for unusual and exciting products that weren't run-off-the-mill ... Retailers made the mistake of taking customers for granted and the payoff came two weeks ago in much weaker Christmas sales because of ho-hum kind of merchandise.