Congratulations go out to all of this yearâs âExcellence in Businessâ award winners and finalists from Wesley Chapel. The annual honors were presented by the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) at its awards gala held at TrebleMakers Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant in The Grove on Nov. 17.
Among this yearâs award winners were Jennie Yingling of both Spinner Law and the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel, who was honored with the âCommunity Heroâ award; Avalon Park Wesley Chapel, which took home the âExcellence in Innovationâ award; and to Parks Ford and AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, which (no pun intended) shared the âInnovation in Collaborationâ honors (the first-ever tie for an NTBC award, according to Chamber president & CEO Hope Kennedy). Other winners included Pepin Academy (âInclusivityâ) and SOF Missions (âIntegrityâ).Â
Jennie Yingling (âCommunity Heroâ)Avalon Park Wesley Chapel (âExcellence in Innovationâ)Parks Ford (âInnovation in Collaborationâ)AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (âInnovation in Collaborationâ)Pepin Academy (âInclusivityâ)SOF Missions (âIntegrityâ)
If I ever open a store, I hope I can do as good a job as Academy Sports + Outdoors, a nearly 300-store chain which opened its newest location next to PopStroke on the north side of S.R. 56, in front of Total Wine & More.
From Fri.-Sun, Nov. 17-19, the first 150 people to visit received a free Academy Sports + Outdoors gift card valued anywhere from $20 to a whopping $500. According to Academyâs regional marketing specialist for Florida Michael Reynolds, a total of more than $14,000 in gift cards were given away and just the prospect of winning one of the two big $500 cards given away each day certainly had everyone in attendance excited about the Wesley Chapel areaâs newest sporting goods store.Â
In fact, Jannah, photographer Charmaine George and I were on hand to witness the two $500 winners on Friday, including Kalyn Saliba (top left photo), who said that although sheâs not particularly âsportyâ herself, her husband and sons had shopped at the Academy store in Louisiana, where they lived for several years before moving back to Florida.
âBut, Iâm a big fan of Academy now,â Kalyn said after she posed with her giant gift card and called her husband, who didnât believe she had really won. âNo, really,â she said. âLetâs definitely go shopping here soon!â
We also heard several $75 and $100 gift cards being given to some of the other early attendees, none of whom won less than $20, and most were quick to make purchases â including yours truly, who scooped a new pair of New Balance running shoes that were already 25% off before taking my $20 gift card into consideration. The athletic shoe department has lots of other options, including Asics, Brooks, Nike and more.
I donât know how long the opening 25% off prices will remain in effect, but thereâs no doubt that Academy Sports + Outdoors has pretty much everything you need to be outfitted for everything from baseball to volleyball and brand names from Adidas to Yeti â all at outstanding prices.
The outdoor department is huge and does include camping, fishing, hunting and hiking gear and even grills and turkey fryers.
Academy Sports + Outdoors (25415 Sierra Center Blvd., Lutz) is open every day except Thur. For more information, call (813) 953-4410 or visit Academy.com.Â
Congratulations to owners Cindy and David Cruz and their entire family (photo above) and staff on the opening â finally! â of their Rice-n-Beans Express location at 24726 S.R. 54 in Lutz, a mile or so west of the Tampa Premium Outlets.Â
Although there are a few tables inside the new location, Rice-n-Beans Express is much more of a take-out place than the Rice-n-Beans Puerto Rico restaurant on Wesley Chapel Blvd., which has a large formal dining area, a full-liquor bar and live entertainment on the weekends.
The great news is that the authentic Puerto Rican cuisine at the Express location is just as delicious as at the WC Blvd. restaurant.Â
Jannah and I were happy to be invited to the private Friends & Family ribbon cutting event on Nov. 9, which included a great live DJ, free homemade sangria and samples of many of the new restaurantâs many menu items.Â
Our favorites included the fritters/ empanadas, which include traditional beef (left photo), chicken and even ham & cheese options, as well as a unique spinach, artichoke and cheese version that had its own delicious flavor.Â
We also loved the rotisserie chickens (photo below) that provide the centerpiece of the new Express location, the Cuban sandwiches and yes, both the red and the black beans and rice.Â
The rotisserie chickens are available in a variety of sizes, from quarter chickens with one or two sides to the âFamilia Grande,â which includes two whole chickens, 32 ozs. of rice, 16 ozs. of beans and two additional large sides. Thereâs also a huge chicken & pork combo meal.
Save room for dessert because the Puerto Rico Desserts case in the Express offers vanilla and Nutella tres leches and three varieties of flan. Decadent!Â
 For more info, call (813) 428-5077 or visit âRice N Beansâ on Facebook and please tell them I sent you! -GN
The North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) stayed busy in November, with its annual Excellence in Business awards gala at Treble Makers on Nov. 17 (which we featured in our Nov 28 Wesley Chapel issue), as well as three ribbon-cutting events that didn’t make it into our print editions.
On Nov. 2, the Wesley Chapel Contract Postal Unit (CPU) on S.R. 54, which has been open for a few months now, celebrated with an NTBC ribbon cutting. Owner Jevon Willians provided free food and beverages for about 40 guests and introduced attendees to the CPU’s many services, all of which are available at regular U.S. Post Office prices. For more information, call (813) 994-7522.
On Nov. 8, the StoreRightSelf Storage facility, located on Crystal Grove Blvd. (near the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 41 and Sunset Lane) in Lutz, introduced attendees to its 749 storage units, most of which are climate-controlled. Store Right also is opening a similar-sized storage facility the second week in December next to the new El Dorado furniture store near the intersection of S.R. 54, Wesley Chapel Blvd. and S.R. 56 in Land O’Lakes. For more info, call (813) 567-8100 or visit StoreRight.com.
And, on Nov. 14, owner Gail Sickler’s Sustain M.E. on S.R. 56 (in the same plaza as Capital Tacos & Touch Nail Spa) officially finalized its re-branding of the store that previously was a location of LĂŒfka Refillables Zero Waste Store with its own NTBC ribbon-cutting event. The revamped refillables and health & beauty products store features a similar variety of all-natural products as did LĂŒfka, but with new products that are all locally sourced. For more info, call (8130 812-8219 or visit SustainMotherEarth.com.
The seven-barber team at Elements of Stylez Barber Shop in the Freedom Plaza on S.R. 54 is led by Briannah (âBriâ) Talley (Below, right) and her partner Daniel (Dannyâ) Quintana (Below, Left). (Photos by Charmaine George)Â
Getting your hair cut, trimmed, faded, or styled can be fun and relaxing, or even a little nerve-wracking, as you wait to see your new look. One thing it usually is not is a family experience. Wouldnât it be nice for men, women, young children and teens to all be able to go to one place for great haircuts and styles? Well look no further â Elements of Stylez Barber Shop, in the Freedom Plaza on S.R. 54, is just that place.
Daniel Quintana and Briannah Talley, also known as âDanny and Bri,â are the couple and business partners behind EOS, combining their hair and cosmetology experience to open the business together in 2018.
Danny has been working with hair for 35 years, first for about 17 years in the Bronx, NY, before moving to Florida and continuing his career here.
He says that becoming a barber was something that basically fell into his lap. He was thinking of starting a new career path when he went to get his usual haircut. He got to talking to his barber and realized his hobby of cutting hair for friends and family could actually be a sustainable career.
âAfter that haircut, I bought a pair of nice clippers and just never looked back,â Danny says.
Teaching himself, as well as training with barbers and beauticians over the years, Danny discovered a passion for hair cutting and now canât see himself doing anything else.
âI have no regrets. If I had to do it all over again, Iâd still choose to be a barber,â says Danny. âEven in my next life, Iâll be a barber. This career has given me opportunities and joy that I would never trade for anything else.âÂ
While living in New Tampa and working at a local barber shop, Danny met his girlfriend Bri at a local Supercuts 8 years ago. Bri, who hails from Detroit, is formidable with hair herself â or, as she puts it â âa beast with the clippers.â Deciding to work together â and work for themselves â they opened EOS together as co-owners and moved to Wesley Chapel, where most of their team lives, too.
âWeâre three female and four male barbers altogether, and five of us live in Wesley Chapel,â Danny says. âWe love our Wesley Chapel community and watching it grow. We are grateful to all of our customers, near and far, whoâve helped us grow, too.â
Booking With Booksy
In addition to Danny and Bri, the talented team at EOS includes Mo, Yissi (pronounced âGCâ), Isaac, Beatriz and Victor. In addition to haircuts for all ages, the barbers at EOS also offer fades, buzz cuts, shape-ups, cuts with designs and layer cuts, as well as braids, twists, and âlocsâ (aka dreadlocks). They also offer relaxing hot towel shaves and beard trims, shampoo and deep conditioning treatments, and hot tool styling for short or long hair.Â
Be sure to check out almost all of the EOS barbers on Booksy, a website that lets you book appointments for barbers, hairstylists, nail salon artists, licensed massage therapists and more. Here, you can see the EOS barbersâ services in detail â with prices, estimated time needed for your service, pictures and reviews of their work.
For example, Booksy says that Victor can hook you up with an after-hours appointment if you need it, and also offers fades, beard colors and eyebrow shaping with a razor. Isaacâs reviews make it clear that heâs great with both kids and adults. Mo is your man if you need steady hands for clean hairlines and designs. Yissi does hair for males and females of all ages but is known for womenâs blowouts and âupdos,â as well as eyebrow and lip waxes, locs styling, curly cuts, deep conditioning treatments, beard trims and shape-ups.
Beatriz is the only barber at EOS without a Booksy account, but many residents of Wesley Chapel already are familiar with her work. Beatriz was the owner of Cuts & More, the previous salon at this same location, before selling it to Danny and Bri, and she continues to cut and style hair for her many long-time (and new) clients at EOS.
Danny and Bri have a shared Booksy account and they both cut and style hair for kids, teens, men and women. In addition to many of the services already discussed, Bri and Danny also offer menâs scissor cuts, bald head cuts or trims with clippers or razor, fades and hot tool styling. They are both great with kids, especially cutting fades and intricate designs like hearts, stars, diamonds, and even the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls logo.
Bri can do just about any hair service for women, from layer cuts to hot tool styling to natural cuts and keratin treatments.Â
An example of SMP. (Above photo from Danny Quintana)
Danny is the resident scalp micropigmentation (SMP) expert at EOS. SMP is a specialized hair tattoo (see photo on next page) that gives the appearance of growing hair. He says that SMP is a great option to manage hair loss and receding hairlines and can last for 3-5 years.
Danny has a unique experience with SMP as someone who has used it himself and now does it for others. He uses tattoo ink, instead of tattoo pigment, for longer-lasting results and stresses that it is important to go to an SMP artist who is really comfortable and skilled at the process.
âThere are many who can do SMP, but not many who can do it right,â shares Danny. âIt is a tattoo that involves thousands of shallow applications to mimic hair follicles. Unfortunately, I have seen it done wrong, where the end result really does not look good, not like hair at all, so picking the right person is essential.â
No matter what your reason is for visiting EOS, all of their barbers will leave with your hair looking good.
Tani Mitchell is a regular customer of Dannyâs and EOS.
âIâm originally a transplant from Pennsylvania, so when I first came down here, it took a few haircuts from a few different people before I got referred to Danny,â says Tani. âBut, once I started working with Danny, I was set. Iâve actually being getting haircuts with Danny for 8 years, so when he and Bri opened the shop, I followed him there.âÂ
Thereâs no other barbershop Tani would prefer for himself or even his kids.
âWhen I go to EOS, I get the full service â beard, haircut, hot towel and shave,â Tani says. âMy son got his first haircut there when he was 2-1/2 years old. I love everyone in the shop. Bri has done my daughtersâ braids before sports season. Sheâs also cut my hair and my sonâs hair. Beatriz has also done blowouts for my daughter. They cater to everybody. Great shop, great family environment.â
Elements of Stylez Barber Shop is located at 30040 S.R. 54. The shop is open Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m., and 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m., on Sat. (closed on Sun.). For appointments, call (813) 575-8416. Also visit @Elements_of_Stylez on Instagram to see pictures of the creative cuts, designs, and styles created by Danny and the rest of the EOS team of barbers.Â