A frigid fur place, a full o' brush factory, a dieter's nightmare, a no-bull china shop: These typify the local economy.
By SHARON L. BOND
Published June 8, 2003
A few people with a storage business, three men finding missing pieces of china, a candy shop selling franchises, a small factory making brushes and handles.
The four enterprises described above are part of the backbone of the local economy: small businesses. The St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce says 80 percent of its 2,000 members have three employees or fewer; 90 percent have 25 or fewer workers.
"More and more people are going into business on their own or doing one-, two-, three-person offices," said Sandi Jones, director of membership and media relations for the chamber. "There's a lot of small business out there."
Here's a look at four of those businesses in south Pinellas County, a few that are a little outside the stereotype of mom-and-pops because of what they do, how they do it or where they do it.
Hides hibernate at Florida Fur
ST. PETERSBURG - It's June in Florida. The thought of a fur coat, even a slight mink stole, is overpowering.
But furs have a place here, and several thousand of them are camping out just west of downtown.
"There are a lot of furs in Florida," said John Psaltis, former owner of Florida Fur Cold Storage.
Most of the furs that take refuge at Florida Fur are in the 38-degree vaults by now. They are stored there by owners who like the security and the climate-controlled atmosphere of the four storage vaults and for whom the fur-wearing (society) season is over.
"We get 3,500 to 4,000 garments per year," said Psaltis. The majority are stored by local folks, and their value runs from $5,000 to $50,000.
In January, Psaltis sold the business to Tom and Sue Johansen. Psaltis still works a day a week at the place his brother-in-law started in 1957. The facility at 411 19th St. S was built to store fur.
Customers pay $55 per year per piece to store their furs, leathers and other garments made of materials that don't fare well in the Florida heat. One woman has two racks of clothing there.
Inside the vaults, it looks like a New York street scene, so varied are the types and colors of furs hanging from the racks. Most of them belong to women, though a couple of dozen three-quarter-length and full-length coats belong to men.
Air-conditioned space is not enough to keep fur and leather in good condition, said Psaltis. They need a certain amount of moisture. So in addition to the 38-degree temperature, the vaults maintain 54 percent humidity.
Adjust-A-Brush really cleans up
PINELLAS PARK - The cleaning brush from Wal-Mart with the handle that extends to reach the top of the RV is made here. At least those with the Adjust-A-Brush labels are.
The Newville family - two parents, three grown children and two dogs - run the plant where cleaning brushes for the recreational, marine, swimming pool and automotive industries are made.
Some of the handles made here have room for water to flow through. Also produced are an extender for the tiller on a boat motor so the fisherman can sit in the middle of the boat and still guide it, a stabilizer for laptops used in police cars and a telescopic flag pole that attaches to the back ladder of an RV. The cleaners for golf balls and clubs out on the greens probably have brushes in them built by the company.
Duane H. Newville, president and founder of the company that does $2.5-million in sales annually, said he has patents on some of the brush handles because of a locking mechanism he invented.
"It's a niche business," he said. "We build a very good telescopic handle and the appliances to go with it." After getting out of the Air Force, he was a salesman for companies servicing the RV industry. When he lost that job, he decided to make brushes. He had seen the need for ones that could reach the top of an RV but then collapse to a shorter length for storage. The business began in 1980.
Adjust-A-Brush has a 5-acre plant at 10445 49th St. N, and 21 people on the payroll. Wife Marillyn is the treasurer; daughter Denise is the marketing director, son Eric is vice president and second son Kurt is sales manager. The dogs, Summer and Dingo (a foundling), greet visitors.
Workers, who include many Cambodians and Vietnamese, run machines that take particle plastics and mold them into brush bases. Other machines attach bristles or scouring pads. Workers assemble handles, extenders and brushes, which then are distributed nationally and internationally. Wal-Mart is one of the larger customers, Newville said.
Candy Kitchen lets belt out a notch
MADEIRA BEACH - You can mention an ice cream flavor you'd like and Les Holybee will try to make it, even though he has 26 flavors on the menu.
He is one of the owners of the Candy Kitchen, which is is expanding.
"Ice cream is our biggest seller year-round," he said last week. "I make ice cream 350 days a year."
A fixture at 13711 Gulf Blvd. since 1950, the Candy Kitchen has been owned by the Holybee family since 1996. The owners include Les' wife, Andrea, son Brad and daughter-in-law Lora.
The family sold one franchise, which will open in Treasure Island next month at 10641 Gulf Blvd. They also rented a storefront at 2041 Gulf Blvd. in Indian Shores. That location either will be a franchise or expansion of the main business.
The new locations will have the same stock that has kept the Candy Kitchen in business all these years: the ice cream and concoctions such as killer sundaes and banana splits, homemade fudge and other candies such as almond toffee and cashew brittle.
Part of the business is devoted to nostalgia with offerings of candy cigarettes, wax fangs, bubble gum cigars, coconut watermelon slices, JuJubes and saltwater taffy, among others.
China Finders fills in the missing pieces
ST. PETERSBURG - China Finders, a three-man service that matches missing pieces in china and crystal patterns, was hidden away in a Pinellas Park industrial complex for a couple of years and had maybe three walk-in customers per day. Most of its business was wholesale mail orders.
The shop now sometimes has 100 walk-in customers a day at 2801 Central Ave., said Harry D. Weitkemper, one of the owners. His bother Larry and his son David also work in the business. Larry Weitkemper operates from St. Louis.
"The best advertising is the traffic light at 28th Street. I've had people go through the light, see us, do a U-turn and come in and buy 12 place settings," Harry Weitkemper said. Retail now is about three-fourths of the business.
Collecting is a family hobby that led to the business, which began in 1991 in Virginia in Weitkemper's basement. He moved it to Pinellas Park, and then to St. Petersburg in 2001.
China Finders' stock is mostly china and crystal that no longer is in production: 77,814 pieces of china, 7,600 pieces of crystal and several thousand pieces of silver, though the company doesn't deal heavily in silver.
The business buys sets or pieces from individuals or at close-out sales. Pieces come from divorce, death, change in lifestyle, relocation or economic reversal, Weitkemper said..
"We have people selling because they are trying to pay the rent," he said.
China Finders then resells to people trying to replace pieces or at wholesale prices to other businesses. China Finders also has a bridal registry.
"We get calls when Grandma Martha's or Aunt Matilda's gift to the bride is a dinner service and it's not being made anymore and it's not complete," Weitkemper said.
