Month: June 2021

Goofy Turtle Offers A Huge Variety Of Fun, Educational Toys!

Before you visit the new Goofy Turtle toy store inside the Tampa Premium Outlets (located next to Saks Off 5th), you should get rid of all of the preconceived notions you have about toy stores.

Goofy Turtle has prices similar to what you’ll find at Walmart or Target, and has a selection that rivals the old Toys “R” Us stores, but in a much smaller space and with a completely different focus.

At Goofy Turtle — which is owned by long-time friends Swathi Atchuta, Soujanya Nomula and Lakshmi Kanthi Korlepara and their spouses — although there are some more traditional toys, the emphasis is on fun toys for kids that also are educational. Really.

(Clockwise from top left): Co-owner Swathi Atchuta shows off a Poke-A-Dot book by Melissa & Doug toys. Your kids can try out some of their new toys (or just hang out) in Goofy Turtle’s Princess Castle play area. The Toddler Tree greets you as you enter the store. Crafty kids will love Aquabeads, which are an improvement over Perler Beads because you only have to add water, instead of ironing them, to create a variety of cool toys. ***(Photos by Charmaine George)***

The three families that own Goofy Turtle all have children ages 7-11 and all have lamented over the lack of anything educational to be found in most toy stores. They also didn’t like the idea of finding items they thought they would like on Amazon and other online services that they ended up having to return because they either weren’t of the quality or the size they expected.

“One thing we can honestly say is that people who buy toys here don’t bring them back because they’re not satisfied,” Swathi says. “Our staff is trained to know about every toy in the store and people appreciate being able to see and touch what they buy before they buy it!”

So, since Goofy Turtle is a new franchise that currently only has three stores — the flagship store in Manchester, CT, plus Grapevine, TX, and the Lutz/Wesley Chapel location at the outlet mall — the partners liked the flexibility and the corporate entity’s focus on educational toys.

Unfortunately, the local partners originally leased their space in late 2019, or just before the pandemic hit, and weren’t able to open until shortly before Christmas of 2020.

“No one knew we were here,” says Swathi, “so we’re trying to get the word out now about everything we have to offer.”

A Truly Amazing Selection!

Although mine and Jannah’s kids are now adults, we are both grandparents to amazing toddlers and Goofy Turtle starts with the kind of fun, educational toys that stimulate young minds like Jax’s and Rosie’s. From musical Ditty Bird and Poke-A-Dot books by Melissa & Doug, dolls, musical toys, play mats, trucks and so much more by Melissa & Doug, Haba and Green Toys (whose toys are all made from recycled materials), to “crafty” toys for slightly older kids, like Aquabeads, Craft-Tastic, Land of Dough (which is a truly reusable Play-Doh improvement taken to the next level) and so many others, young minds never had so much fun learning — at least my kids never did!

(Clockwise from top left): You can’t beat the variety of crafting toys at Goofy Turtle. Swathi shows off a Wild Republic plush sea turtle. Whether you want your kids to select from a huge variety of STEAM or Coding toys, you can’t beat the selection at Goofy Turtle, which also has Steve Spangler Science brand Oobleck! slime/quicksand. ***(Photos by Charmaine George)***

Yes, there is a smattering of Disney and Star Wars learning toys mixed in, but even the plush toys at Goofy Turtle are educational, especially the large variety of Wild Republic animals and dinosaurs.

Swathi also says that kids love hanging out in Goofy Turtle’s unique Princess Castle (see photo at the bottom of the previous page) so much that many parents have asked them where they got it so they can re-create it in their own homes.

If you have older kids and/or teenagers in your home who also would appreciate playing with something other than (or, at least, in addition to) video games, Goofy Turtle also has you covered with such high-tech wizardry that a lot of it went over my head…completely!

“Not only do we have an entire STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) toy section, we also have quite a few STEAM toys that include that Art element, too,” Swathi says, as she shows me one of several Power Blox by E-Blox sets that can even use your kids’ existing building bricks to create their own toys that light up and move. Think Legos on steroids.

There also is a large section of wall devoted to coding toys.

(Clockwise from top left): For kids who seemingly love to break things, try iPlay iLearn’s Take Apart toys. Kids can learn how to fly their drones in Goofy Turtle’s Drone Cone. Odyssey’s UpShot bow & arrow gaming system is one of many available smart toys. We couldn’t fit all of the hot, trending items for sale in Goofy Turtle, so pictured above are just a few of them.

Science toys include everything from the Thinkfun brand Code Master and Code On The Brink programming logic games (for ages 8-definitely-not-this-adult) to the MoBotz Ramblez voice-changing “sidekick” and the UpShot Bow & Arrow gaming system from Odyssey, Steve Spangler Science brand Oobleck! slime/quicksand and so many more that I’m really not doing the list of STEM and STEAM goodies justice.

And of course, since drone vehicles are the wave of the future, not only is there a huge selection of drones for sale, there’s even what I call the Drone Cone, where kids can learn how to control and fly their drones in an enclosed space.

Swathi and her partner Soujanya’s husband Eshwar Babu Vanaparthi, who helped take me on the tour of the store, also promise that as the Covid pandemic hopefully becomes more and more a thing of the past, that Goofy Turtle will offer much more opportunity for kids to try out toys in the store.

There’s even plans to convert one area of the store (near the Princess Castle) into an enclosed small party room where each child in attendance can play with a toy their parents have purchased and other fun play ideas coming soon.

In other words, even though Goofy Turtle also offers more traditional play blocks, pogo sticks and other less-educational toys, this is no ordinary toy store and you should definitely bring your kids of all ages to check it out!

Goofy Turtle (2416 Grand Cypress Dr.ºw) is open Mon.-Thur., 11 a.m.-8 p.m., 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. & 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call (813) 406-0518 or visit GoofyTurtle.com and please tell them the Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News sent you!

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Downtown Wesley Chapel?

Downtown Wesley Chapel.

It may not currently, or officially, exist, but is interesting enough of a concept that three area developers — JD Porter, Beat Kahli and Mark Gold — have all suggested that their current projects will, in fact, be downtown Wesley Chapel.

So, who will it be?

Whose project will possess most of the qualities that typically define a small town’s downtown — pedestrian friendly, open public spaces with generous amounts of greenery, a cluster of retail and restaurants with attractive storefronts and most important (according to North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) CEO Hope Kennedy), people? It depends upon who you ask.

“I think, ultimately, downtown Wesley Chapel will be wherever the people say it is,” Kennedy says.

Currently, Kennedy thinks the closest thing to downtown Wesley Chapel is the area around the Shops at Wiregrass outdoor mall, which also boasts the AdventHealth Wesley Chapel hospital (and the many jobs that come with it), the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, high-end car dealerships, hotels and a plethora of retail and restaurants.

But, Wiregrass Ranch is still developing. Its town center — the community’s downtown, when it is completed — hasn’t even broken ground. And, Avalon Park Wesley Chapel and The Grove also promise that big things are on the way, and a newer, bigger and different downtown Wesley Chapel could emerge.

Here’s how the three developments shape up as downtown cadidates:

WIREGRASS RANCH

JD Porter, whose family owns most of the land in Wiregrass Ranch, is not terribly concerned about which community will be home to Wesley Chapel’s official downtown.

“I don’t think you can force a downtown,” he says. “I think if it’s thought through and done with purpose, I think there will definitely be a downtown in Wesley Chapel. I just don’t think you can count on a downtown popping up in the next six months, the next year or anything like that.”

Porter says a community’s downtown must come about organically, and he thinks that is what’s happening in Wiregrass Ranch. While he has plans for a town center a little northeast of the Sports Campus on the yet-to-be-finished Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., construction is a ways off. Instead, he says, the area around his town center is filling in nicely, with Raymond James Financial (and the 700+ jobs it promises) beginning construction recently and joining the number of housing subdivisions, the Sports Campus, the mall, Pasco-Hernando State College and AHWC as walkable and bikable destinations.

There have even been talks of light rail or another form of public transportation within the Wiregrass Ranch community.

Porter thinks a 5-10 year timeframe is reasonable for his vision of downtown to emerge. That vision includes walkability, 150,000-200,000 square feet of retail, 200,000-300,000 square feet of office space and 800 to 2,000 residential units.

He has compared it to Georgia’s Buckhead development near Atlanta in the past.

“It will come naturally,” he says. “We’re getting the density, getting all the different uses coming together that will create the downtown area.”

Porter says it has been a thoughtful process putting together Wiregrass Ranch, and the town center will be its jewel.

“Almost everyone in Pasco has a ‘town center,’” he says, “basically comprised of a Publix and couple of dry cleaners and maybe a smoothie shop. That’s not a town center.”

Porter has bigger goals. Downtown Wesley Chapel may not be enough.

“I look at our town center as being Downtown Pasco County, Downtown Wesley Chapel, Downtown North Tampa,” Porter says. “But it’s got to mature naturally, it can’t be forced. We have some stuff going on. We’ve upped our timeline. We have some exciting things coming down the pike.”

AVALON PARK WEST

When developer Beat Kahli announced upcoming plans for a downtown core in Avalon Park Wesley Chapel (APWC) in February 2020, it was heralded by many in the media as Wesley Chapel’s future downtown.

And that’s exactly what Kahli thinks it will be.

Kahli is investing more than $700 million in the project — with a $33-million commitment from Pasco County -— which he says could break ground in the next few months.

The APWC (formerly Avalon Park West) downtown will be located on the north side of S.R. 54, less than a mile west of Eiland Blvd. (just west of Zephyrhills), but despite its distance from most of Wesley Chapel, will look the most like a small-town downtown, based on its renderings.

The downtown area will be a mixed-use development on 215 acres. The entire APWC project is being built on 1,800 acres, the same size as its successful Avalon Park Orlando. It will eventually have 4,800 residential units (it currently has 1,000) and 15,000 residents. Many resident won’t have to leave — they can live, work and play in APWC.

“We don’t build subdivisions,” Kahli says, “we build towns.”

And, while many people might assume that the downtown core is just for residents of APWC, it will be open to everyone.

Kahli says the area will have two of the most important qualities in a downtown —walkability and mixed-use buildings.

After a 10-year buildout, the APWC downtown development will have roughly 2,700 residential units, 165,000 square feet of Class “A” office space and 190,400 square feet of commercial development.

The “neo-tradional” project will include four-story buildings, with neighborhood commercial on the bottom floor and the other three floors reserved for residential.

There will be multiple parking decks and sidewalks, and four freestanding Class A office buildings, which are typically larger, and will feature top-of-the-line amenities and high-income tenants.

“Compared to other large projects in the (Wesley Chapel) area, which are generally single-use projects with several hundred or several thousand single family homes, and then somewhere else maybe some apartments, and then somewhere else maybe a mall or strip mall, somewhere else maybe a school,” Kahli says, “we are integrating it all. We’re building full towns. That’s our approach in Wesley Chapel, and wherever we go.”

THE GROVE

The Porters have been in Wiregrass Ranch since forever, and developer Beat Kahli has patiently held onto the land that will be Avalon Park Wesley Chapel for almost 25 years. That makes The Grove’s developer Mark Gold the new kid on the block.

But, Gold is no rookie when it comes to buying up older projects and making them relevant again. Even when he purchased The Grove for $64 million in 2018, he was not shy about calling it Wesley Chapel’s future downtown.

Despite arriving late to the party, with The Grove project already well under way, he will get the first crack at cementing his 254-acre property as the area’s downtown.

He is pouring more than $100 million into that dream, taking Wesley Chapel’s major shopping center (it was built in 2007, a year before the Shops at Wiregrass) and transforming into something the area hasn’t seen before.

The old Cobb movie theater has been renovated and is open, the long-ignored area Gold calls “The Village” has been revitalized and KRATE, an innovative retail and restaurant park made up of converted hip, reimagined shipping containers, is rounding into form.

While others see The Grove as more of an entertainment and retail district, Gold takes offense. He says the project is much more, with more than 600 homes approved for construction just north of The Grove, as well as apartment complexes in the surrounding area. Other businesses will come in, bringing more jobs. He sees The Grove as a destination for residents as far away as Tampa and Orlando.

“It will be the No. 1 destination for families, and they will be able to shop, eat, walk, play mini-golf and many other things,” Gold says. “There will be no need to go anyplace else.”

Spinner Law Is Area’s Powerhouse Neighborhood Firm

As Spinner Law Firm approaches nearly two decades of serving the community, it continues to make its mark helping people.

Charles Spinner, Esq., originally established his firm in New Tampa in 2003. Its main office is now located in the Cypress Glen Professional Park off S.R. 56, just east of I-75.

The practice is led by Spinner, together with attorneys Anissa Morris, who joined the firm in 2011, and Patrick Barnes, who joined in 2020.

Spinner says that when it comes to personal injury, insurance disputes, and estate law, locals have access to a highly accredited, experienced and aggressive law firm, without having to leave Wesley Chapel. In fact, all of the attorneys and the 10-person staff live in or near the immediate area.

“Our (personal injury) caseload covers everything from relatively minor car accidents to complex cases resulting in catastrophic injuries and death,” he says.

Before opening his private practice, Spinner worked for several years as a civil trial and insurance defense attorney. Prior to that, he graduated from the University of Dayton in Ohio, and then received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Toledo College of Law, in Toledo, OH, in 1996.

Spinner is peer-rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell for personal injury law, which is the highest possible rating for professional excellence, legal ability and adherence to professional standards of ethics.

And, unlike at larger firms, which may assign your case to an inexperienced attorney or case manager, all of the attorneys at Spinner Law Firm have practiced for many years, and also collaborate together.

“We have three highly experienced attorneys, and we work as a team, so each client gets the benefit of our collective experience,” Spinner says.

He adds that there’s a big push on television ads right now where law firms emphasize how huge they are.

“The biggest measure of our success is not size,” he says, “but the way that we care for our clients and their families, and the results that we achieve.”

That often means walking with clients every step of the way through a devastating motor vehicle accident or the loss of a loved one. “It means being there for our clients all the way through, with a level of caring and service you’re not likely to receive from a larger law firm,” where, he adds, you’re more likely to deal with young and inexperienced lawyers and case managers.

“We take it personally when a member of our community is injured in a crash because of someone’s carelessness on our roads,” says Spinner. “This is not only where we work, but also where we live and raise our children. We fully appreciate how dangerous these roads can be. They’re the same roads we travel to go out to dinner, to the doctor and to take our kids to school.”

Spinner and his team — including fellow attorneys Patrick Barnes (front row, 2nd from the left) and Anissa Morris (front row, third from the left) — all live in the local community, and give back to it with hundreds of volunteer hours each year.

Community-Minded

He also says that being “small but impactful” extends from helping clients to helping the people in and around Wesley Chapel with community service, too. “What makes us so unique is that we schedule time to get out into our community,” Spinner says.

The firm’s attorneys and staff members volunteer hundreds of hours every year in the community. Marketing director Jennie Yingling says they provide dinner each month for local fire stations, support local high school athletics, youth sports leagues and charitable organizations, provide snacks for the staffs at local high schools, volunteer with the Wesley Chapel Rotary Club and Habitat for Humanity, and more.

In fact, you may see Yingling driving around Wesley Chapel in the firm’s new “community outreach vehicle,” a Ford F-150 pickup truck with a lift kit that is expected to be used to lead graduation parades this year, something that Spinner himself participated in last year and he is planning to do again this year.

“We’re putting plans in place to have large participation with a graduation parade and excited to show off the truck,” says Spinner. “It’s an attention-grabber, and we get lots of positive feedback on it. Jennie is always driving around the area, reaching out to our fire fighters, Sheriff’s Office, schools and sports organizations.”

Impacts of Covid-19

Spinner says that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way all firms practice law, especially in the use of video conferencing for everything from client meetings to depositions and mediations and the use of electronic document processing software.

Also, because courts across the country were shut down for so long, he says, “there is a huge backlog of cases that has piled up, which has dramatically slowed the pace of litigation.”

He admits that this is a source of frustration for clients, but Spinner and his staff are committed to being patient and persistent, knowing that it’s a system-wide problem that will eventually be resolved. He says his firm also is committed to constant communication with the client to ensure they know exactly what’s happening with their cases and how they will move forward.

Despite those delays, some clients say they’re thrilled with how quickly Spinner Law Firm was able to help them resolve their cases.

Eric Young was hit head-on last March, in an accident that required him to have back surgery.

“Charlie got me the maximum amount anyone could have gotten, in the quickest amount of time I could have imagined,” says Young. “From the time of the accident and surgery to receiving funding was less than a year, and this was during the pandemic.”

He says the firm’s communication with him was great and the staff would even call to check on his well-being.

“It’s like a big city attorney (who is)no-holds-barred and takes care of business,” says Eric, “but also a small town feel where you walk in and everyone knows you and cares about you.”

Spinner Law Firm offers a comprehensive consultation for all legal matters at no charge. The firm is located at 2418 Cypress Glen Dr. For more information, call (813) 991-5099 or visit SpinnerLawFirm.com.

Spinner Law

Mahana Fresh To Offer Free Bowls On June 12 — Don’t Miss It!

The fact that restaurants serving a variety of bowls have taken over the collective consciousness (and appetites) of the local community hasn’t been lost on Ryan Mortti, now the co-owner of Mahana Fresh, located just north of I-75 off Doña Michelle Dr. and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa.

Ryan, who also owns his own construction company, recognized the need to do more to capture more customers, especially with multiple new bowl-oriented restaurants either having opened recently or getting ready to open within a couple of miles of his Mahana Fresh location — which is one of three in the Bradenton-based mini-chain.

To that end, Ryan has brought in an experienced partner, Chris Courtney-James, who was responsible the last several years for making sure that Dunkin’ Donuts locations that hadn’t been meeting company expectations were brought up to speed. More important, however, is that Chris also spent years in the kitchens of restaurants across the Tampa Bay area and, in his words, “isn’t afraid to spend a lot of time cooking at a hot grill.”

In addition, Ryan and Chris have a special offer that they hope will bring in plenty of locals — two hours of free Mahana-sized bowls on Saturday, June 12, from noon-1 p.m. and from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. You can pick a bowl, any bowl — one per person, for dine-in only.

Photographer Charmaine George and I spent some time recently at the local Mahana Fresh and even though both of us already loved the food, we were impressed with the incredible precision with which the bowl-oriented eatery prepared for a large catering order — as well as with the delicious aromas that emanated from those grills while tender steaks and marinated chicken breasts and thighs were cooked over the open flame.

An Amazing Selection!

For those who have never tried Mahana Fresh, you shouldn’t wait until June 12 to check it out. Here’s how it works. You choose from three sizes — Kids (with 1 base, 1 veggie, 1 protein & your choice of sauce), Mahana (1 base, 2 veggies, 1 protein & sauce) and the Big Mahana (2 bases, 2 veggies, 2 proteins & sauce).

The bases include coconut or cauliflower rice, a basmati rice blend, sesame noodles, spinach or my favorite, the kale crunch salad.

Your proteins include marinated ahi tuna, plus Key West, BBQ or (Jannah’s favorite) teriyaki chicken, plus spicy grilled tofu and tender, grilled-to-order steak (my favorite).

The incredible veggies (above photo) include roasted mushrooms, roasted sweet potatoes, Buffalo cauliflower, garlicky cilantro green beans and my two favorites, the sesame ginger broccoli and the honey sriracha Brussels sprouts.

Available sauces include coconut sweet potato, creamy wasabi and mine and Jannah’s two favorites, the cilantro vinaigrette and the citrus ginger.

For a small extra charge, add roasted almonds, avocado smash, parmesan cheese, Jannah’s favorite feta cheese and my fave, the Mediterranean tomatoes.

Honestly, you really can’t go wrong with any of them, but if you have any trouble deciding, Mahana Fresh has now introduced “Signature Bowls,” including everything from a “Keto Surfer Bowl” (cauliflower rice, sesame ginger broccoli, roasted mush-rooms, grilled steak & cilantro vinaigrette) to a “Veggie Vacay Bowl” (coconut rice, sesame ginger broccoli, roasted mushrooms, sesame garlic tofu and coconut sweet potato sauce) and The Big Kahuna Bowl (basmati rice blend, spinach, Buffalo cauliflower, garlicky cilantro green beans, BBQ chicken, grilled steak and cilantro lime vinaigrette).

And, all of Mahana Fresh’s house-made desserts are pretty tasty, especially for gluten-free — and include chocolate chip cookies, zucchini brownies and snickerdoodle cookies.

As for beverages, Mahana Fresh has done away with its unique beer taps, but still has fountain sodas, Pure Leaf sweet and unsweet tea, regular and strawberry lemonade, a variety of Bubly flavored sparkling waters and Bai flavored antioxidant infusion drinks.

Mahana Fresh is located at 17512 Doña Michelle Dr. and is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. every day. For more information, call (727) 238-9967 or visit MahanaFresh.com.

Bringing Mini-Golf To The Grove!

As mentioned earlier, Ryan also owns his own construction company and has been busy working on not only completing many of the repurposed shipping containers at the KRATE container park at The Grove, but also on bringing a cool mini-golf course to the area near The Grove theater, with his brother Matt Mortti and his sister Melissa Schachtner and her husband Andrew Schachtner.

“It won’t have windmills but it will have a mountain with waterfalls and fire, plus cool trick shots,” Ryan says, adding that the tropical-themed course also will have a tiki hut restaurant that serves beer and wine.

bowls Mahana Fresh New Tampa

Budget Blinds Expanding To The KRATE Park At The Grove

There’s something about staring longingly out your window while tucked safely away inside during a pandemic that makes you notice that your drapes are looking a little dingy, or your shutters feel a little outdated, or the light coming in is really harsher than you originally thought.

That might explain why the phones at the Budget Blinds office of Wesley Chapel’s Mike and Adriane Wonderlin rarely stopped ringing this past year.

“To be honest, business has never been better,” says Adriane. “People are in their homes, looking out their windows and getting sick of looking at the same thing all the time.”

But, that’s not the only reason, Adriane adds. New homes are flying off the shelves, too, and many new owners are eager to put their own touch on their new residences.

“There’s a lot of new construction going on, and they don’t want the builder’s blinds,” Adriane says. “They want something they had a choice in (to make) their homes more beautiful.”

*Wesley Chapel residents Adriane and Mike Wonderlin own one of the top Budget Blinds franchises in the country.*

The growth has led Adriane and Mike to expand. After working for Budget Blinds for nearly 10 years, the Lexington Oaks residents are now the owners of the Budget Blinds franchises in Greater Tampa, Brandon and Lakeland. Adriane says their territory, which stretches all the way north to San Antonio and south to Palmetto and includes showrooms on W. Fletcher Ave. (near I-275, two exits south of Wesley Chapel’s S.R. 56 exit) and in Riverview, covers nearly 90 zip codes.

The brisk business has not only led to having to hire more employees (they now have 30), but Budget Blinds has outgrown its Riverview showroom, which is being expanded. The showrooms are still closed to walk-in traffic, as Budget Blinds continues to take Covid precautions and a no-contact approach, with design consultants still wearing gloves, masks and booties when visiting their customers’ homes.

And, this summer, the Wonderlins will expand to Wesley Chapel.

Budget Blinds was one of the first businesses to sign a lease for a spot in the upcoming KRATE container park at The Grove. After a number of delays, they hope to be open sometime in June or July.

The container set-up will feature living spaces that show off the offerings at Budget Blinds (something similar to IKEA’s set-ups). There will be samples on hand and design consultants to assist in making your choices.

“It will be like a mini-showroom,” Adriane says.

The new showroom also will utilize television monitors and iPads to help bring your ideas into focus. It’s part of a move to a more digital approach, the Wonderlins say.

And, speaking of digital approaches, their Budget Blinds franchise also is beefing up its social media standing with a renewed focus on Instagram — @budgetblindsgreatertampa — where it is polling customers to determine what they like and teaming up with online influencers to bring the possibilities offered by Budget Blinds to life.

There is a variety of styles to choose from no matter what you are looking for — from best-selling brands like Signature Series, Enlightened Styles and Norman Shutters.

Blinds come in vinyl, wood, fabric, faux wood and aluminum. Shutter options range from real wood (in painted or stained) and also composite shutters that will not fade or warp.

If you prefer shades, you can choose from roller, pleated, Roman, cellular, woven wood, bamboo, sheer, solar and graphic, not to mention a variety of panels, valances and drapes.

Adriane says the most popular choices are plantation shutters, which is a huge part of Budget Blinds’ business, and treatments like Roman and roller shades remain a top seller. Adriane says after years of more simple and hard-lined window treatments, soft treatments also are growing again in popularity.

Features that continue to grow in popularity are motorization and automation.

Budget Blinds has a private label called Smart Home Collection by Budget Blinds, and it can be used with a variety of vendors.

“If you found a certain fabric with one vendor, but for another room you want a different vendor, that system will work with both,” Mike says. “It’s a single platform that goes across multiple brands.”

Motorization is more pushing a button on a remote control or keypad, while automation is typically using an app on a phone to set times for the drapes or blinds to open and close. Scheduled correctly, you can be awakened in the morning by natural sunlight as your blackout shades gradually rise, or change the ambiance of your whole home after the sun has set, all with the press of a button or a voice command.

Both eliminate the need for unsightly (and sometimes dangerous) cords.

“It’s great for windows behind couches, especially if you have a conservation view,” Mike says. “People love not having to go (manually) raise the blinds on eight windows every morning. I even had a customer a few months ago (whose) teenage sons wouldn’t wake up, so they set the timers on their blinds for 7 a.m.”

The technology gets better every year, Mike says, and sales of motorization/automation products are up 25 percent over the past three years.

About The Company

Budget Blinds was founded in 1992 in Orange County, CA, and has more than 1,000 franchises in the U.S. and Canada. The Wonderlins’ franchise, which they purchased in 2018, was recently awarded Budget Blinds’ national Franchise of the Year for 2020, the franchise’s third such honor since 2016.

The Wonderlins have a staff of 30 consultants, including installation manager Bill Tumelty, a U.S. Army veteran, and administrative manager Kristi Cicollelo.

Tumelty is one of a few military veterans working for the Wonderlins, who partner with Homes For Our Troops by providing and installing the window treatments in the homes of wounded veterans for free.

Whether you’re looking for improved aesthetics or smarter energy consumption — or, like many customers, a little bit of both — Budget Blinds can steer you in the right direction. And this summer, your journey to more elegant and convenient window treatments can start right in the new local mini-showroom at KRATE.

“We’re excited about it,” Adriane says. “Anything you put in Wesley Chapel right now takes off. And, we’re local — it’s literally right in our backyard.”

The main Budget Blinds of Greater Tampa showroom is located at 1208 W. Fletcher Ave. The showroom hours are Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. To schedule a complimentary in-home consultation, call (813) 968-5050. For more info, visit BudgetBlinds.com/NorthTampa or see the ad on page 24.

budget blinds of greater tampa krate Wesley Chapel