la Pink Boutique Caters To Local Fashionistas

la Pink Boutique owner Amy Crumpton
la Pink Boutique owner Amy Crumpton

Busy traffic roars past on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa and customers coming to shop or dine at the The Walk at Highwoods Preserve shopping center just off Highwoods Preserve Dr. pull in and out of parking spots. Step inside la Pink Boutique, however, and you’re transported to another world.

Frank Sinatra croons “New York, New York” softly, and aromatic candles scent the air. Beside a fashion book opened to photos of Audrey Hepburn is a framed Oscar Wilde quote: “One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art.”

Visiting la Pink is nothing like shopping in a mall store — it’s more like browsing through the eclectic and whimsical home of a friend with exquisite taste.

Welcome to Amy Crumpton’s little kingdom, the fashionista destination that pays homage to Crumpton’s favorite color — every hue of rose, blush, fuchsia and magenta imaginable (as well as other colors, too).

“It’s my little happy place,” says Crumpton from her office, with its vintage desk and full set of the popular children’s book series, Pinkalicious. “I’m still a little girl.”

While she’s perfectly turned out and looks ready for a brisk day at work, Crumpton also exudes the companionable air of one who’s up for a cozy chat. Her personality may say a lot about the long-standing success of this boutique, which mixes exclusive merchandise with affordability and manages to draw customers despite the continual growth of nearby chain store and mall destinations.

la Pink Boutique will be 11 years old in May, and has been in the same location (in the outparcel building that also is home to Men’s Wearhouse) all these years, although it has doubled in size since its opening.

The boutique’s origins lie in a shoe shop for children that a friend of Crumpton’s invited her to join in running in Tampa Palms. At the time, Crumpton was a young mom who was working in accounts receivable for Crumpton Welding Supply, owned by her husband’s family, since graduating in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in management from the University of Tampa.

The two ran the shoe shop for a year, and then they decided to open a boutique (la Pink) instead. They worked together for five years, before Crumpton became the sole owner in 2010.

Today, la Pink consists of two large rooms artfully arranged with a carefully curated collection of clothes, accessories, shoes and jewelry. The range of styles and looks in the store mean that everyone from Crumpton’s college-age daughter to her own mother can find something they like.

While the items are carefully sourced, well-structured and well-made, Crumpton also is proud of the reasonable and generous selection of items throughout her showroom.

Brand Names For Boutique Shoppers

Clothes lines at la Pink include KUT from the Kloth Denim, Jude Connally, Allen, Escapada, Isle and Tyler Boe.

Bourbon and Boweties
la Pink has a wide array of chic items, such as dazzling bracelets from Bourbon and Boweties.

One brand that la Pink was the first boutique to feature is Lutz-based Tees by Tina, a line of super comfy and flattering tees, leggings, camis and other casual fashions.

A charm bar by Moon & Lola is one popular jewelry line, as is Bourbon and Boweties, a line of bracelets from a Brandon designer who fashions dazzling stones picked up from worldwide travels into unique, handmade “arm candy.”

Shoe lines include the playful Oka B as well as Lindsay Phillips, a Clearwater-based line of shoes featuring interchangeable snaps to change the look of the shoe to match an outfit — or a mood.

KUT from the Kloth Denim
Stylish collections from KUT from the Kloth Denim are also featured at la Pink Boutique.

Those looking for a thoughtful gift might find something pleasant from the line of carefully selected fragrances and body luxuries, such as Tyler candles, Lollia bath products, Tokyomilk fragrances and cosmetics and Pure factory natural lotions and skin repair products.

There’s even the tongue-in-cheek “Poo Pourri,” a line of deodorant bathroom spritzes.

“It takes a while to learn your customers,” says Crumpton. “You have to understand that you can’t have everything for everyone. But I try my hardest! You have to stay true to who stays true to you.”

Boutique Product Lines That Give Back

Giving back also is a priority for Crumpton, and she tries to stock products that do more than make a profit. 31 bits, for example, is a company that sells beautiful necklaces and bracelets made by women in Uganda to help them make a living. Other brands have helped send Thai children to school and set up water purification systems in Haiti. And, that philosophy permeates more than just the products.

“There’s a lot of therapy that happens here,” says Crumpton. “I always tell people, ‘You don’t have to come in and buy something. You can just come in and talk.’ Conversations I’ve had with people in here have gotten me through situations in life.”

Her employees too are not simply hires; they are people Crumpton invited into the business because of a personal connection she felt with them. Judi Kusha is a neighbor; Lori Hairston was actually a customer with whom Crumpton got along so well that she asked for her number and told her she’d call when she had an opening. That was nine years ago.

The newest hire is Emily Wingate, a 23-year-old University of South Florida student who walked in a year ago to buy a present for a friend and so moved Crumpton by her personal story and dedication to her family that Crumpton felt compelled to hire her, even though there was no clear position available at the time.

Crumpton says Wingate has since been an indispensable part of the team, setting up not only la Pink’s website, but also the boutique’s Instagram, twitter, Facebook and Pinterest sites.

“This is a team,” says Crumpton. “We get each other. There’s no drama.”

Customer Anjali Gandhi agrees, saying, “la Pink is my favorite place to shop!! Love the clothes. Judi, Lori, and Amy are awesome!

la Pink Boutique is located at 18035 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. and is open Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sat. For info, visit laPinkonline.com, visit the store on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest, call 972-2862 or see the ad on pg. 16 of this issue.

Tennis For Fun Comes To Tampa Palms!

Tennis For Fun
Tennis For Fun

On a slightly warm but otherwise perfect Thursday evening, a dozen or so special needs adults gathered at Tampa Palms Golf & County Club to learn how to play tennis, like they do every week.

They squealed with joy when hitting a ball back over the net, and laughed when they failed. A handful of volunteers gently tossed tennis balls their way, and would swat them back with hands, or catch them and throw them back, to help teach coordination. Some were determined to complete their tasks, while others were there primarily for the fun of it all.

“It’s so great,’’ Judy Moore said. “It’s just a big social event.”

Moore runs Tennis For Fun, a free tennis clinic for athletes with special needs. Tennis For Fun is a volunteer organization that teaches basic tennis skills, and stresses socialization, specializing in working with athletes of all ages who are intellectually handicapped, especially those who have Down Syndrome.

Moore’s son, Nathan, started the program 16 years ago as a high school senior at Tampa’s Jesuit High. He wanted to create something to do for special needs athletes, no doubt inspired by his mother, who had taught special education and religion for years.

Tennis For Fun
Tennis For Fun

Since then, Tennis For Fun has grown, from a humble beginning with just a few athletes in Brandon to now including eight different locations (Fishhawk Ranch, Tampa Tennis at Hillsborough Community College, Sandra Friedman Tennis Complex on Davis Islands, and Tampa Palms in Florida), in three states (Florida, Maine and Minnesota), with more than 100 athletes competing.

At Tampa Palms, they were wearing new, bright green T-shirts donated by ALOT (A League Of Our Own Tennis), and playing with racquets donated by other players and clubs. Interbay Tennis, a large Tampa Bay women’s weekly tennis league, also has provided assistance, and Tennis For Fun also has received grants to help pay for nets and balls. Both Tampa Palms and Hunter’s Green Country Clubs are designated as Special Olympics training centers.

In 2011, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) awarded the USTA Adaptive Tennis National Community Service Award to Tennis for Fun. “We were pretty proud to get that,’’ Moore says.

More than a dozen of the 100+ athletes currently competing in Tennis For Fun are at Tampa Palms, which recently added the program under the direction of tennis player and Tampa Catholic High assistant coach Marla Adams. Adams will run the clinic through May 26, every Thursday, 4 p.m.-5 p.m., for the 18-and-over athletes; Marla’s son Clay, a freshman tennis player at Tampa Catholic, coaches the 17-under group from 5 p.m.-6 p.m.

Clay, who originally got involved because he was trying to earn service hours at school, and Marla first met Moore while volunteering at the Brandon location. Moore had received some requests to start a program in New Tampa, but until she met Marla, she had no one to run it.

“I met her and she asked where I lived, and I said Tampa Palms,’’ Marla says. “She said, I have someone who wants to start a program (out there) but doesn’t want to be the head of it.”

Tennis For Fun
Tennis For Fun

Marla and Clay accepted the challenge. For Marla, it was a personal decision. When she had been pregnant with Clay, she was told there was a chance he would be born with Down Syndrome, or a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21, which alters the course of an individual’s development.

Clay ended up not having Down Syndrome, but Marla said that moment stuck with her. So, when the chance arose to work with Down Syndrome children and adults, she says couldn’t resist.

With the Adamses working closely with Kass Pilczuk, the New Tampa YMCA Adaptive Coordinator, and Tampa Palms head pro Tom Judson, the program debuted last November.

“Kass has been very instrumental in helping us launch in New Tampa,’’ Marla said. “She has filtered a lot of her athletes at the YMCA through here.”

The response in New Tampa, says Moore, has been terrific.

While the Brandon program has more than 90 athletes, ages 8 to 58, New Tampa has seen its numbers steadily grow.

“People started talking about it, and people started coming,’’ says Dora Rattes, one of the volunteer coaches and supporters who helped bring the program to Tampa Palms.

Rattes used to take her special needs daughter Esther to Brandon to play tennis in the program. It was far from convenient, however.

“She really enjoyed it,’’ says Dora. “But I was thinking, we have Tampa Palms here (in New Tampa), and we have Hunter’s Green
”

Rattes knew there were enough special needs athletes in New Tampa to support such a program, and she knew there was a need. For many older special needs athletes, there is often little to do and few programs to participate in past high school.

“It is very important for them to stay active,’’ she said. “This is a sport they can play for life. This isn’t like soccer or basketball where you need a team to play. This is something you can do with just one other player.”

Esther is one of the program’s more advanced and experienced players. She recen

ly competed in the Special Olympics tennis at HCC March 19, and Marla says the plan for next year is to teach and send a large contingent of New Tampa special needs players to the event.

For now, the group is working on the fundamentals, growing their clinics and putting smiles on the faces of athletes learning the joy of a new sport.

For more information, call Judy Moore at 685-3923 or 417-3751, or visit TennisForFun.net.

Volunteer Of The Year Craig DiCecco Makes Impact at New Tampa YMCA

Craig DiCecco volunteer
Tampa Palms resident Craig DiCecco is the New Tampa Family YMCA’s Volunteer of the Year.

Thanks to the efforts of volunteers like Tampa Palms resident Craig DiCecco, the New Tampa Family YMCA continues to help people in need in and around our community.

DiCecco was named the facility’s “Volunteer of the Year” at the annual Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA’s annual Community Impact Awards dinner on Feb. 25.

DiCecco, whose three kids have all participated in sports at the New Tampa YMCA over the past 10 years or so, is a real estate appraiser who is also a member of the New Tampa Rotary Club. He first became involved with the YMCA through the Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot, which is an event put on jointly each year by both organizations.

“Craig has really stepped up in many ways, especially with the Turkey Trot, ” says Tony Kimbrough, New Tampa Family YMCA executive director. “The event helps us raise funds to provide programs that impact our members and the community.”

Some of these programs include drowning prevention, teen leadership, the YMCA’s partnership with LIVESTRONG, adaptive programs for people with special needs, and providing financial assistance to kids who need it to attend summer camp.

“There are a lot of families in need,” says Kimbrough, “and we serve them. Summer camp can really help kids close the achievement gap. We see that there’s a lot less of a ‘summer learning loss’ for kids who come to our summer camps, versus those who don’t get that opportunity.”

Honored To Be Recognized

DiCecco says he is honored to have received the award. “The Y is a great organization with a lot of fantastic volunteers,” he says. “It’s tough for me to understand why I deserve this more than others whose faces I see at the Y every day.”

But, Kimbrough says DiCecco absolutely deserves to be recognized for his efforts.

“Craig also serves as vice chair of the New Tampa Family YMCA advisory board, and he’s been instrumental in helping us to raise both money and awareness,” says Kimbrough. “He’s always the first to raise his hand to volunteer when something needs to be done.”

For more information on the New Tampa Family YMCA, call 866-9622 or visit TampaYMCA.org/locations/new-tampa/.

Shops at Wiregrass Mall Offers Diversity With Latest Offerings

Vom Fass casks.
Vom Fass casks. Shops at Wiregrass Mall .
Vom Fass casks, coming soon to the Shops at Wiregrass Mall.

The Shops at Wiregrass mall in Wesley Chapel will welcome a handful of new stores in the coming months, and while Wiregrass officials aren’t looking to compete with bigger malls like Westfield Brandon, the latest batch of new choices for area shoppers gives the local mall a unique mix that general manager Greg Lenners thinks will continue to make it a prime destination.

Currently seeking an alcohol permit for tastings, Vom Fass is slated to open sometime this spring. Construction already has begun on the store, which will be near Macy’s and the mall’s Center Court.

Vom Fass, which takes it’s name from the German phrase “from the cask”, will offer premium culinary oils, traditional balsamic oils and vinegars, vinegar specialties, and exclusive fruit balsamic vinegars, as well as rare spirits and liqueurs and a boutique selection of wines. Many of the store’s products are cask-aged and stored in cask pyramids.

“What’s made us great for the community is the diverse mix of retailers we’ve always carried here,’’ Lenners said. “It’s kind of a unique blend of stores. We thought Vom Fass would be a perfect fit. No one in the area that has that kind of store.”

This will be the seventh Von Fass store in Florida; the closest ones are located in Sarasota and St. Petersburg.

Candy, 3D And More On Tap For Shops at Wiregrass Mall

Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop also is coming this spring, to Suite #115, near JC Penney.

Founded in 2007 in California, Rocket Fizz has become the largest and fastest-growing soda and candy shop brand in the country, according to its website. The 74 stores nationwide all offer a massive selection of candy, soda, retro and gag gifts, concert and movie posters and tin signs.

“A pretty cool concept, in my opinion,’’ Lenners said. “It’s got a 1950s, specialty convenience store feel to it.”

3D Musketeers Printing, offering custon color-printed three-dimensional figurines, is expected to open by the end of the month.

And as we were the first to report back in January, this fall will see the Wesley Chapel debut of Irish 31. The popular restaurant is referred to as “The People’s Pub” by their customers and dubbed “Irish-plus-gourmet” by Neighborhood News publisher and foodie Gary Nager.

Irish31 in Hyde Park. Shops at Wiregrass Mall.
Irish31 in Hyde Park. Construction has begun on a location at the Shops at Wiregrass Mall.

Irish 31 is being built next to Panera Bread. Lenners said he thinks the mall has already hit a home run with its food offerings, and Irish 31 only strengthens that opinion.

Visionworks, which has roughly 700 optical retail stores in 40 states, is expected to open this fall as well. Construction has begun on the building, which will be across from Moe’s Southwest Grill on the S.R. 56 side of the mall.

Another tenant will share that property (though Lenners was unable to announce it at our press time because the lease hasn’t been signed).

A few stores that have recently opened include Lola Perfume, located in Suite #160 (next to Hollister), and Soleciety Sneaker Boutique,which sells collectible athletic shoes from around the globe, in Suite #170 (next to Zales), and has only been open a few weeks.

For more information about the Shops at Wiregrass, visit TheShopsAtWiregrass.com.

Local Eagle Scout Speaks To Congress!

A group of Boy Scouts from across the nation -- including New Tampa's N'Jhari Jackson from Boy Scout Troop 142 in Tampa Palms -- spoke Tuesday to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan (pictured here) and President Obama, as part of the organization's annual Report to the Nation.
A group of Boy Scouts from across the nation — including New Tampa’s N’Jhari Jackson from Boy Scout Troop 142 in Tampa Palms — spoke Tuesday to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan (pictured here) and President Obama, as part of the organization’s annual Report to the Nation.

N’Jhari Jackson, an Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 142 in New Tampa, was selected as one of 10 Boy Scouts from across the nation and delivered the “BSA 2015 Report to the Nation” to U.S. Congressional and governmental leaders Tuesday, March 1 in Washington, DC.

“JUST GAVE MY SPEECH TO OBAMAAAAAA,” Jackson texted to friends. “(It went) Great, I didn’t stutter either. OMG. I’m awesome ohhh I feel gosh!”

N’Jhari is still just 13 years old, but has already earned an incredible 121 Merit Badges and has set a personal goal to earn all 136. He has been recognized extensively (including in this publication in March 2015) for his outstanding volunteer service, with projects he has created and implemented, such as collecting 1,200 pair of socks for children’s group homes in the Tampa Bay area, delivering more than 4,000 Pajama Buddies and Pajama Grab Bags to hospitalized children, raising money to donate an AED (automated external defibrillator) to his school, and delivering blankets and other items to the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital.

“I am excited and nervous about my trip to Washington, DC,” N’Jhari told the Neighborhood News prior to his trip. “I know it will be something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”