Category: Business

Florida Hospital’s Pepin Heart Institute Offers Community Health Screenings

The Florida Hospital Pepin Heart Institute, located at 3100 E Fletcher Ave, invites you to take part in its annual community health screenings.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. Your lifestyle, diet and genetics all play a part in your heart health risks and benefits. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that heart attack prevention begin by age 20 and continue throughout your life. It’s vital to assess your risk factors and take action to protect your heart.

A Tampa couple understands the meaning behind taking action for your health. Richard and Jill Beistle keep several dates on the calendar that are important to them, including birthdays, anniversaries and…for more than 10 years …health screenings. The couple says this gives them peace of mind about their health and their hearts!

The Room Exchange — Designer Furniture At Great Consignment Prices

Lesley and Courtney Stone of The Room Exchange in the Willow Bend Towne Centre on S.R. 54 at Collier Pkwy.

By Kathleen Schiop | September 14

“The heart is in the home,” so the saying goes, and for most of us, our homes are our refuge from the stress and anxieties of the everyday world, so naturally we want our home to be a comfortable and beautiful place where we can relax. And, both new and established homeowners can find artistic and budgetary challenges to furnishing and accessorizing their homes, and that is where The Room Exchange, located in the Willow Bend Towne Centre Plaza (at the corner of SR 54 and Collier Pkwy. in Lutz (five miles west of Bruce B. Downs Blvd.) can help.

The Room Exchange, a consignment furniture store, has been assisting customers with home furnishings for seven years, the first three at the Village Lake Shopping Center on U.S. 41 in Land O’Lakes, and for the past four at its current location.

The Room Exchange sells a wide range of furniture and accessories consigned from private individuals and from builders’ model homes. Voted the 2011 Gold Winner for Best Consignment Store & Furniture Store in East & Central Pasco by the Media General Publications Florida Publishing Group, The Room Exchange represents quality furniture and service to its customers, some of whom are both selling and buying their furniture and “knickknacks” at the store.

Courtney Stone, the charismatic owner of The Room Exchange, says he comes by his chosen profession honestly.

“My dad has a store in Ocala called Bargains and Treasures,” he says, “and I have pretty much spent the last ten years in this business. You’re not going to get rich doing this, but I just love it.”

Two years after opening the store, Courtney was joined by wife Lesley¸ a former USF librarian who eventually left her job to work full time at the store.

“We’re here all the time,” he laughs. “It’s definitely a family business.”

How It Works…For You!

Michele, Room Exchange's part-time interior decorator. — Michele, Room Exchange’s part-time interior decorator.

So how does furniture consignment work? The Room Exchange sets the price of the item, based on the track record for selling of other similar items at the store. The consignment period is for 120 days and the business takes 50 percent of the sale, with the seller taking the other 50 percent. (Please note that some consignment stores take a more advantageous, for them, 60-40 split of consignment proceeds.) Every 30 days that the item doesn’t sell, The Room Exchange reduces the selling price by 10 percent from its original price. And, if the item goes the full 120 days without selling, it is marked half off.

“We have an average turnaround on a sale of about three weeks, and almost 90 percent of everything in the store sells within the first month, so our inventory changes constantly,” explains Courtney. “We sell a lot of sofas, coffee tables, and knickknacks (picture frames, small lamps, candlesticks and more), but there are some things we don’t take, such as fine china. So, before you consign, check our website (TheRoomExchangeOnline.com) to see what we do and don’t accept.”

He adds that The Room Exchange has taken in whole houses or apartments full of furnishings, “if the furniture and accessories meets our criteria, and of course, the model homes come in periodically. If an estate doesn’t meet our criteria, we refer the families to appropriate vendors who can help them.”

The store, a former Publix supermarket in the plaza, consists of 12,500 square feet, and resembles a retail furniture store, but without the sticker shock. The furniture and accessories are arranged in tasteful and appealing “vignettes” by Michele, the store’s part-time interior decorator, one of the ten full- and part-time employees who work at The Room Exchange.

“Business is really good,” says Courtney. “We have some wonderful regular consigners and customers who come in here every day, but we also do pickup and delivery and we even offer free pickup within 15 miles of the store, which is great for the customer who can’t bring everything down.”

He adds that the pickups are so popular that, “Right now, we’re on a six-week waiting period, so it’s good to plan ahead if you have a large amount of items — or just a few larger items to consign.” Delivery of your furniture purchases also is available, for a fee.

“Most of our consignments come to us from a 15-mile radius, people who live in New Tampa, Wesley Chapel, Lutz, Land O’Lakes and Carrollwood,” he says. “And we do have quite a few people who bring in our daily limit of 30 items on a regular basis. (Note-Consignments are accepted at The Room Exchange Tuesday-Saturday only). They go out to garage sales and bring in things to consign and do very well. If I didn’t own this business, I might become a consigner myself, because I see some of the checks we pay out to these people.”

Julie, a customer from Lutz, couldn’t say enough good things about The Room Exchange. “I’ve been following the store ever since they started, and visit at least two to three times a week, just to see what they have in stock. It’s a great place to shop, and the inventory changes practically daily. Everything is reasonably priced and the staff is so friendly and nice, they’ve practically become my second family.”

The Room Exchange showroom features a huge variety of dining room tables and chairs, armoires and artwork, as well as furniture arranged in “vignettes,” designed by Michele, the store’s part-time interior decorator. But, trust us, these photos do not do the store justice. You really have to see it to understand the quality and variety of the available furniture & accessories.

Pressed for time? Check out TheRoom ExchangeOnline.com to see some of the latest furniture available at the showroom. The website even updates the pricing of each item, so you know exactly what an item will cost. In addition, take a look at the site’s beautiful blog “Everyday Spaces” for fabulous ideas about decorating with your new treasures. Of course, the website cannot possibly include all of the large and ever-changing inventory at The Room Exchange, so you are encouraged to come and view the showroom during store hours. Whether you need one piece of furniture, or a whole house-full, The Room Exchange offers a variety of different styles to meet your decorating needs. Don’t see what you want? The store also offers an affordable custom design service for those hard-to-furnish rooms in your home.

Nora, a customer from Wesley Chapel, raves, “About 60 percent of my home has been furnished by The Room Exchange. Every room in my house has something from there, and I was able to use the personalized decorating service when I needed help. They are kind, fun, easygoing people and their customer service is excellent.”

When not at the store, owners Courtney Stone and his wife Lesley spend time running and swimming and spending time with their daughter Alyssa, who is finishing up her last year of nursing school at Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers.

For more information, please visit TheRoomExchangeonline.com or call 909-2411. The Room Exchange is located in the Willow Bend Towne Centre, at 23046 SR 54 in Lutz (next to LA Fitness). The store is open Mon.– Sat., 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and noon- 5 p.m. on Sunday. Consignments are ONLY received Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

The New Tampa Dance Theatre: Nearly Two Decades Of Dance & Life Lessons

By Bonnie Mason | September 14

Dance has gained popularity in recent years with television shows like “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance?” attracting millions of viewers of all ages.

Dyane Elkins IronWing, the artistic director and owner of the New Tampa Dance Theatre (NTDT) on Cross Creek Blvd., also has made her mark through dance. Dyane and her staff of highly trained and experienced dance instructors have been teaching dance — and life-lessons — to New Tampa and Tampa Bay-area residents for the past 19 years.Continue reading

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel’s Inagural Women’s Health & Wellness Day At Saddlebrook Resort

Saturday, September 21, 8:30 a.m. – In appreciation of all that women do, Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) is holding a multi-generational women’s health & wellness-focused event. This fun, FREE, inspiring event will feature physician presentations, health screenings, pampering and giveaways at Saddlebrook Resort & Spa Tampa (located off S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel).

Celebrating The Rebirth Of The Pebble Creek Collection!

Check out the newly revamped Pebble Creek Collection on BBD.

BY GARY NAGER | AUGUST 31

You may not realize it, but the Pebble Creek Collection (PCC) on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. a mile south of the Pasco County line, is the oldest shopping plaza in New Tampa. Built during the 1970s, the strip center looks as good as it ever has, thanks to an ongoing facelift provided by the center’s landlord and owner, John Martinez, which has included replacing the entire roof throughout the plaza.

That’s a good thing, because our office was in the Collection more than a dozen years ago, and roof leaks were an ongoing issue when we were there.

“We’re also going to replace the plaza’s current monument sign on Bruce B. Downs with something a lot nicer,” he says. “I’m really happy with the way the center has filled back up.”

When Martinez purchased the plaza in 2005, he says it was always close to full and bustling with activity. In fact, he was able to manage PCC from his home in California. But, when the local economic bubble burst in 2007-08, he says it became a lot harder to keep the tenants in business, much less happy, and by 2011, Martinez decided to move to Tampa to take a more hands-on approach and get the plaza back to capacity. He was as careful as possible to choose businesses that would complement the existing tenants and hopefully survive the ongoing economic downturn.

And today, other than the long-empty former gas station located on the northern outparcel of the plaza, with direct frontage on BBD, which Martinez hopes to be making a formal announcement about soon (see below), and a former chiropractor office in the plaza itself, PCC is now full.

The newest new tenant to open is one that Martinez is particularly excited about — Once Upon a Child, a chain of children’s consignment stores with more than 260 locations across the U.S. and Canada.

“It’s a known retail name, in our anchor tenant space in the plaza,” says Martinez. “I hope it will attract a lot of traffic for the entire plaza, from the restaurants to our real estate offices.”

Melissa and Brian Levering, co-owners of Once Upon a Child

Once Upon a Child owners Melissa and Brian Levering say their store, which had been open less than three weeks at our press time, was definitely generating quite a bit of traffic from people hoping to cash in on the store’s commitment to purchasing (and reselling) high-quality, new and gently used apparel, toys, baby equipment and furniture for children at affordable, family-friendly prices.

“So far, so good,” says Melissa. “We’re definitely in purchasing mode right now and quite a few people are finding us and bringing in their quality baby and child clothing and accessories.”

The current tenants who have been in the plaza the longest are Bryan and Pam Hardy of Insurance Associates of Florida. “We’ve been here almost 20 years,” Pam says. “We’ve always loved this plaza and moved our office around in it quite a bit. We really like the current lineup of tenants (see diagram) here.”

Another long-time tenant in PCC is Alex, the owner of Party Scene, which is a small store packed with everything you need to throw a great party, including her great dozen latex balloon special for only $9.99. “It’s nice to see the plaza fill up, but I will definitely benefit when that gas station comes in,” she says.”

And, speaking of the gas station, Martinez assures us that a deal is imminent. “The ink isn’t dry on the deal and I have to invest some money to have gas tanks located under the station,” he says, “ but I expect that there will soon be a Circle K convenience store with Chevron gas moving into that building very soon.”

Sam, the new owner of the new King Beauty Supply in the plaza, says he moved from a successful location on Bearss Ave. because, “this is a better neighborhood and closer to my home.”

Another tenant who is waiting for a gas station is Full Circle Pizza owner Ron Chase. “Our dinner business keeps building,” he says, “but I’m betting a gas station will really pump up my lunch crowd. I’ll probably have to start selling slices (of pizza) at lunch, instead of only whole pies, like we do now.”

Although he already has a pretty solid lunch business, new Las Palmas Café owner Ramses Garcia says that the combination of an anchor gas station and his new-and-improved, more authentic Cuban cuisine recipes should make that crowd even bigger.

“We’re already getting great feedback from our customers,” Ramses says, as a couple who overheard him nods in agreement that the food at Las Palmas is even better than it was before. “And, we’ve been coming here long enough to have known all of the previous owners.”

Changing ownership and tenant lineups have long been a staple of the Collection. For example, the current Kobé Steakhouse has previously been Harris & Co., Durango Steak House, Wasabi and other restaurants, none of which has lasted more than a couple of years. “Hopefully, Kobé will change that,” says Martinez. “I’m hoping all of these tenants will be able to stick around.”