Nibbles and Bites: Sweet Party closing.

Very soon, New Tampa will have no party stores, as the Sweet Party store located at 20310 Trout Creek Dr., west of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (behind Burger 21) will close, most likely sometime immediately after Halloween (Sunday, October 31).

Owner Maher Alagal says that although Sweet Party is still making money, he is ready to retire and spend more time with his family. He also has been looking to sell the store, which became the only party store in New Tampa after the Party Scene store in the Pebble Creek Collection on BBD closed in 2017.

“People said I put Party Scene out of business when I opened, but I actually tried to buy that store from its owner before it closed,” Maher says. “I honestly believed that there was room for two party supply and costume stores in this area.”

But now, with Halloween less than six weeks away as this issue arrived in your mailbox, Maher says that everything in his store must go, including his huge selection of Halloween costumes for men, women and children. And yes, at our press time, the selection of available costumes at Sweet Party was still pretty sizable, but moving fast, especially with the entire inventory of costumes up to 70% to 80% off their regular prices.

Maher says similar savings are available on party supplies, balloons and other unique merchandise — but don’t blame me if anything mentioned here is gone before you get there!

For info, call Sweet Party at (813) 994-4900 or visit SweetPartyTampa.com. — GN

Jeremiah’s To Expand To Wesley Chapel

Congrats to partners Pete and Dru Patel, who opened their first Jeremiah’s Italian Ice franchise earlier this month at 7936 Gall Blvd. in Zephyrhills.

Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, which was opened at its original location in Winter Park, FL, in 1996 by founder and Philadelphia native Jeremy Litwack, now has 60 locations in Arizona and throughout Florida.

The good news for Wesley Chapel isn’t just because of Jeremiah’s unique gelati (Italian ice layered with soft-serve ice cream), but also because the partners also plan to open two Wesley Chapel locations. Visit JeremiahsIce.com or call (813) 438-5754 for more info.