Lithos Jewelry has bought into the downtown St. Petersburg resurgence with space at the Florencia.
By SHARON L. BOND
Published June 13, 2004
ST. PETE BEACH - A Corey Avenue retail fixture since 1991, Lithos Jewelry is leaving the beach and moving to downtown St. Petersburg.
Owners Rose and Lornie Mueller bought one of the two street-level shops in the Florencia, a luxury condominium tower at 100 Beach Drive NE. They just received the go-ahead on their financing and now must start to design the space.
"We are very excited about moving," said Lornie Mueller. "We had always owned our own location until we came here. Quite frankly, we wanted to get back to owning our own location."
Lithos will move either in August or September.
The jewelry store now leases the space at 344 Corey Ave. in St. Pete Beach. That location will close when the Muellers move to downtown St. Petersburg.
"We looked for a long time. There's not that much space to buy available on Beach Drive. We did want to be on Beach Drive. We feel downtown is having a real resurgence. We think it is very business friendly," Lornie Mueller said.
Lithos sells high-end jewelry made by contemporary designers, most of it set in 18-karat gold and platinum. Rose and Lornie Mueller are designers and certified gemologists and appraisers. Last year, they installed a laser tool that can repair damaged pieces.
The Muellers bought the downtown space from Fanitsa Meehan, who has several businesses in St. Petersburg and Tarpon Springs. Mueller would not disclose the purchase price, but Meehan said she sold it for $470,000.
She bought the two retail spaces in the Florencia in 2000 for $600,000. One housed Fanitsa's Christmas Shoppe and the other Fanitsa's Ultimate Home Shoppe. The Muellers bought the Christmas shop that sits to the right if an onlooker is facing the Florencia. When Meehan put the property up for sale last year, she was asking $669,000 for the Christmas shop space.
"I still own the left side," Meehan said in an interview before the deal was closed. "That will stay interior design and fine accessories." Meehan said her Christmas inventory was purchased by a merchant from Atlanta.
Mueller said he and his wife should not have to spend too much building out the jewelry store in the Florencia.
"We're still trying to get organized at this moment. It shouldn't be terribly expensive because that is a fairly new space," he said.
The Florencia was the second luxury residential tower to open on Beach Drive, after the Cloisters at 288 Beach Drive. Those two were followed by the four towers of Vinoy Place beside the Renaissance Vinoy Resort.
The arrival of well-heeled residents downtown helped spur other development, including BayWalk, the entertainment complex, and a Publix.
