16 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013 | East Valley Tribune | eastvalleytribune.com New cAreer Former Cardinal swaps spikes for spa Barrett turns love for pampering into new chandler business by brett silva ABC15 David Barrett’s life was football. Drafted in 2000 by the Arizona Cardinals, his professional football career began. Over Barrett’s eight year career he played cornerback for both the Cardinals and the New York Jets. However, there was something that Barrett liked just as much as football — getting pampered. MOre ONliNe Video: Cardinals player exhibits softer side, business savvy with new venture http://evtnow.com/5q4 “When I was playing I used to get pampered. Get my nails done, go get pedicures, manicures, massages,” Barrett said. Barrett’s fiancé and coowner, Kristi Thames, said for people that know David, this isn’t a surprise. In fact, Barrett likes getting pampered so much, that once his football career ended he decided to turn it into a business. D. Antonio’s Signature Day Spa & Ink officially opened its doors this august in Chandler, Arizona. This high-end spa includes massages, pedicures, manicure, and a staff of four hairstylists. However, this spa has a twist to it. Beyond the relaxing, sophisticated elements of the spa you can experience something you will never forget — literally. The spa even has its own tattoo artist. Combining the salon and tattoo parlor is tied to the idea that customers may be more comfortable in the relaxed setting of a spa as opposed to an intimidating tattoo parlor. The grand opening of D. Antonio’s Day Spa & Ink is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 17. Money eastValleytribune.com Read more East Valley news online: • ‘New’ eastValleytribune.com: more visual, more updates • Mesa’s SunDust Gallery moving to Gilbert • NASA chief tours east Valley Orbital Sciences plant Business, technology, personal finance DOllArS AND SeNSe the ticker How to bargain shop online — and do it safely McCain: immigration reform will create jobs migos, here’s a worthy poster to nail on the gate post: “Wanted: Safe Bargain Shopping on the Internet.” In case you’re new to frugal buying online, here’s a big “howdy” to the new frontier of shopping. Find online bargains: Many web sites do the bargain hunting for you. Dealnews. com is a favorite, constantly updating information. Also, check these locations: deals2buy. com; gottadeal.com; slickdeals. net; offers. com; retailmenot.com; dodtracklinda Hutchings er.com; amazon.com, and pricegrabber.com. A number of sites also offer reduced-price vouchers, including groupon.com, livingsocial.com, and localdines.com — the latter a Valley-based site that deals strictly in dining discounts for area restaurants, including a bunch in Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe and Ahwatukee. Just be careful to watch for expiration dates on vouchers! Use One credit card: Choose only one easy-tomonitor credit card for online purchasing, review your statements often for errors and print receipts and file them. Don’t want to use a credit card? Use a PayPal account where possible — another company with local roots, PayPal employs more than 1,100 at its Chandler operations center — and protect your information from the vender — and from all those identity outlaws out there who are ready to rob you, shoot you and leave your carcass bleaching in the sun. Use coupons: The best place to find coupons is often on the actual store’s own website. No current store coupon? Then get coupons online from various sites like couponcabin.com, and retailmenot.com. Want other A Nicholas Lerma gets packages ready for shipping in November 2012 at Amazon.com’s 1.2 million square foot fulfillment center in Phoenix. [AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin] sites? Google the word “Coupons” and “git ‘er done!” Use cash-back shopping: Where possible, go through ebates.com to make your purchases and to realize cash back averaging 4 percent to 10 percent. An actual “big fat check” will be sent to you faster than the Pony Express. Get free shipping: Go to freeshipping.org to get — uh — free shipping. Find out who pays the shipping on returned items. I watched a TV commercial the other night wherein the shipping-and-handling cost was almost half the price of the item to be sold. If I got two of them on their “special deal,” then I had to pay the same shipping price two times. Guess where some of their profit comes from? Shop at home: Public WiFi connections are easily hacked. While you are drinking a caramel machiatto and eating a breakfast bun at Starbucks, do not shop online. Same advice for using any other public hot spots. Use your own escrow company: If you have to use an escrow account, choose your own escrow company not the one suggested ONliNe As consumer spending online is climbing, the debate over how to handle sales tax for online retailers heats up as well. Head online now for a point/ counterpoint discussion on the ‘fairness’ of the proposed ‘Marketplace Fairness Act.’ • Mesa biz owner: MFA a political money-grab [evtnow.com/5q5] • chandler legislator: Use MFA to lower taxes [evtnow.com/5q6] by the seller. An escrow site with a good reputation is escrow.com. inform yourself: Know the return-and-exchange policies. Some online sites will let you return items to their affiliated, nearby stores. Make sure you know all costs and hidden fees. Know about warranties and guarantees. As always, read the fine print. Beware of unsolicited emails: Do not blindly open strange emails especially those offering too-good-to-be true deals. Identity thieves are devils with Houdini brains and no conscience. A recent e-mail said that I had won a bonanza: “Shh! Your check may have finally arrived!” Open the email and collect the gold. Right. Buy or sell gift cards: Gift>> see Hutchings on page 17 Sen. John McCain is trying to convince Arizona business leaders to support immigration reform by touting its impact on the state’s economy. McCain said Monday that giving the 11 million people in the country without legal status a path to citizenship will create jobs and end the ‘de facto’ amnesty they currently have. The Republican said he is soliciting the business community’s help during the summer congressional recess. He says House lawmakers opposed to overhauling the nation’s immigration laws need to be convinced public opinion is behind the overhaul. “We all respond to our constituents,” McCain said. “Over 70 percent of the people in Arizona support a path to citizenship if they pay back taxes, learn English, get in line behind everybody who has waited legally, and so we hope to convince them without being disrespectful to my House colleagues.” McCain is touring the state during the five-week recess speaking about immigration reform and held a round-table discussion at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday. eVti 769.70 the east Valley tribune index of 20 local public companies Down -7.87 companies Price chng Allegiant Travel Company 95.62 -2 Amkor 4.24 0.05 Apollo Group 20.06 0.29 Avnet 39.85 0.86 Boeing 106.23 1.99 Qwest/CenturyLink 33.88 -0.20 Cavco Industries 52.80 -1.30 Freeport McMoran 31.16 -0.69 First Solar 38.89 -1.68 Intel 22.52 -0.12 US Airways Group 16.36 -2.46 Southwest Airlines 13.47 -0.25 Microchip Technology 40.88 0.12 Mobile Mini 31.91 -0.40 Meritage Corp. 42.42 -1.37 Insight Enterprises 20.86 -0.13 Petsmart 74.60 -0.16 Pinnacle West (APS) 57.12 -0.19 Swift Transportation 18.13 -0.33 Taser International 8.70 0.10 Outfitters, Johnny Rockets and Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. Saturday’s event begins at 9 a.m. and ends at noon at the center’s children’s play area and is targeted for a younger audience. SanTan Village is located at 2218 E. Williams Field Road in Gilbert, and more information by visiting shopsantanvillage.com. east Valley trio of students semiinalists in science, Gilbert Santan Village engineering shopping center contest Three East Valley stuhosting back-to- dents are among the 300 semifinalists naschool event tionwide for a $25,000 Several businesses at the SanTan Village shopping center will participate in a special two-day, back-to-school event beginning Aug. 16. The first day of the event, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday at the SanTan Plaza between Dillard’s and Harkins Theatres, features free entertainment, mini makeovers, massages, prizes and a live radio remote by EVIT’s 90.7 FM “The Goldmine.” Visitors can also win gift cards from shops like American Eagle award in the third annual Broadcom MASTERS competition,which focuses on science and engineering. Later this month, 30 finalists will be announced in Washington D.C. The East Valley students are: Mesa’s David Stafford and Drake Miller, both from the Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies in the Mesa Unified School District, and Dhruv Iyer, of BASIS Chandler. • Compiled from staff and wire reports