Page 48 August 2 0 1 4 By Katie Maye It was the e Bob Sommer a lot of young ad The group alternative sc their shifts w discussing life “Several of where people ideas and book In 1974, the their store – downtown Tem called Changin Today, the Tempe, has following that books and com Changing Han So when th location closer “We’ve bee Phoenix,” Sha traffic has got who used to c said it’s too m On May 30 Sommer, now Cindy Dach o Phoenix near Avenue in the at the complex With the hel initiative and By Samantha Bero Topgolf, a new driving range in Scottsdale, has been open for less than a month and is already attracting everyone from all walks of life. Topgolf “is not just a regular driving range,” according to Topgolf’s marketing manager Joe Bowie. Topgolf is different from a typical driving range based on their “technology and full service.” Players can choose from seven different competitive games and Topgolf offers a full-service menu and three bars for customers. Each golf ball is micro-chipped so players can track where and how far their ball goes. On July 4 Kristen Brown, 28, and Ann Marben, 28, visited Topgolf for a second time. “It’s a nice atmosphere,” said Brown. “It’s similar to bowling where you can sit and hang out.” They both enjoy the food and drinks. Both Brown and Marben have visited Topgolf during the day but they are both looking forward to going to Topgolf Nights, which are Thursday-Saturday nights. Topgolf Nights is open to the 21 and over crowd and offers three bars, live music on the rooftop and games such as cornhole, Jenga, darts and more. Topgolf is also family friendly. Kids of all ages are welcome. The Summer Golfing days, party nights Academy has kicked off Monday for kids ages 6-12. “Kids love coming here,” said Bowie. Marben and Brown both own golf clubs but do not golf often. “You don’t have to own clubs or be good at golf to come,” said Marben. There are currently 12 other Topgolf locations throughout the U.S. and eight more locations in the works, including one in Gilbert. “The markets, demographics, sports fans and avid golfers” were the reason the company chose Scottsdale as their newest target market. The driving range sits on 65,000 square feet with three levels of playing bays. The facility can hold 600 players at once. For more information visit: topgolf.com.

Page 49 August 2 0 1 4 Beloved bookstore opens thanks to community support By Katie Mayer It was the early ‘70s and Gayle Shanks, Bob Sommer and Tom Brodersen did what a lot of young adults do – they dreamed. The group volunteered at a Phoenix alternative school and often followed up their shifts with long talks on the porch, discussing life and their futures. “Several of us dreamed of a bookstore where people could gather and talk about ideas and books,” Shanks said. In 1974, the group opened the doors to their store – as well as their dream – in downtown Tempe with a small retail space called Changing Hands Bookstore. Today, the store, now located in south Tempe, has garnered a large and loyal following that enjoys the carefully selected books and community atmosphere unique to Changing Hands Bookstore. So when that loyal following asked for a location closer to home, the owners listened. “We’ve been asked for years to come to Phoenix,” Shanks said. “My sense is that the traffic has gotten worse. A lot of customers who used to come on a biweekly basis have said it’s too much trouble.” On May 30, current owners Shanks and Sommer, now married, and business partner Cindy Dach opened a second location in Phoenix near Camelback Road and Third Avenue in the former Beef Eaters Restaurant at the complex known as The Newton. With the help of an Indiegogo fundraising initiative and a witty video featuring a puppet version of Moby-Dick and a Frankenstein figurine called “Frank ‘N Moby Build a Bookstore,” the community donated more than $91,000 to help bring the bookstore into their community. The owners also had to make a massive investment into the new location, which cost about $1 million to create. “We give a tremendous amount of our energy and time to social service agencies, schools, arts organizations, programs and people doing good work in our city, and it comes back to us tenfold,” Shanks said. “I am so grateful for this.” The new location is 6,000 square feet of bright, open space, featuring a bar with wine, beer, coffee and light fare. Behind the bar is a large entertainment area, shared by all of the tenants at the Newton for hosting events. Owners hope the location will be a gathering place for the community, and will also provide ample space for book signings and other events. On a recent evening around happy hour, the store was dotted with a diverse mixture of families looking for books, young couples enjoying beer, a group of women meeting after work for wine and the usual book shoppers quietly reading in aisles. Area resident Courtney Sargent said she often walks or bikes to the new Changing Hands Bookstore to enjoy its cold brew coffee in the mornings or a cold beer after work. After forty years of success in Tempe, Changing Hands Bookstore has opened a new store in Phoenix. Photo credit: Andrew Pielage “It’s a good community space for the neighborhood,” Sargent said. Laura Gill, of Phoenix, recently stopped by the store with her two young children and said she has been a customer for a decade. “I really like the selection of books,” Gill said. “They do a really good job weeding out fluff.” Longtime Changing Hands Bookstore customer Chris Ayers, 35, who lives blocks away from the new location, said he donated $50 to the Indiegogo campaign because he believes the bookstore revitalizes the community, provides a great space for gathering and offers a locally-owned option for book shoppers. “When I was in high school or college, I didn’t have regular access to the Internet, so going to a bookstore for hours at a time was how I found out about the world,” Ayers said. “Just browsing and getting lost. … That’s part of what I love.” Shanks said that she has found “great joy and adventure” in books and reading since she was a child. “Books change our lives,” Shanks said. “But even beyond the books, I think people need places to gather, to talk, to think, to share their experiences as human beings.” She added, “Independent bookstores are places that are this very thing, and Changing Hands’ whole reason for being beyond the books is about community, ideas and changing the world one reader at a time.” For more: changinghands.com. 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