By SUSAN THURSTON, City Times Editor
Published October 28, 2005
They came to offer their condolences, like mourners at a funeral.
Only in this case, the deceased wasn't a person. It was a business. A coffee shop in Ybor City.
Walter and Sara Romeo's Studio 1515 Coffeehouse has closed after a two-year run on Seventh Avenue. On Saturday, the Romeos had an everything-must-go sale. Vultures were waiting outside as they opened the door.
Sara scratched her head. "Where were you when I was selling coffee?"
The store's death comes as a blow to efforts to make Ybor a well-rounded place where people come for more than a hangover. Granted, one small business can't transform a community, but it can spark momentum.
Studio 1515 opened with a big splash. Wow, it wasn't a bar or a nightclub. It was a venue for creative endeavors, where you could recite bold poetry, muse about film or say your piece at open mike. All with a cup of coffee in hand.
I remember my first visit. Creative Tampa Bay hosted some speaker to talk about ways to develop the city's creative class. Richard Florida's 2002 book, The Rise of the Creative Class, was all the rage, and Tampa was on a mission to become a culturally rich place in which to live and work.
What better place to plant the seed but in Ybor?
About 200 people packed the coffeehouse - on a weeknight. The speaker turned out to be a dud, but the goal was accomplished. By gosh, people will come to Ybor and not drink a beer. People will support a new vision for Ybor.
The group left caffeinated and determined. Problem is, they didn't come back. En masse, at least.
Aside from the regular meeting groups and organized events, the coffee shop didn't pull enough customers off the street. Weekday business wasn't just slow, it was dead, Sara said.
"We got a lot of verbal support, but I don't see the community rallying around culture," she said. "You talk about it, but we're here doing it. Where's the support?"
Admittedly, the Romeos didn't break their necks to adapt. Despite some people's urgings, they refused to add alcohol. They also didn't stay open all night.
They wanted to keep it simple. Let Ybor gradually evolve into an eclectic neighborhood where people come to walk around, grab something to eat and poke their heads in the shops.
It still can happen, Sara said. It just will take a bit longer.
Residential development on the fringes of Seventh remains Ybor's salvation, she said. The new condos and townhouses will bring lots of new people apparently sold on the idea of walking to places in Ybor.
The Romeos were probably a few years too soon.
Tom Keating, the new president of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, is already seeing some changes. Reopening Seventh to cars on weekend nights has increased sidewalk traffic. A hair salon and attorney's office have moved into new retail space below his apartment on Fifth Avenue. And investors with "deep pockets" are headed this way.
Although he hates losing a small business like Romeo's, that's the reality of Ybor. It has been since the cigar factories moved in, then moved out. One place closes, another opens.
Keating stopped by the clearance sale Saturday to check out the fixtures - and do damage control. Ybor isn't dying; it's evolving.
Brad Cooper, owner of an art gallery up the street on Seventh, came to offer "moral support." Despite all the efforts to energize Ybor, it has been a struggle for him, too. So much that even he is pondering his future in Ybor, after 15 years.
It has been a tough summer for everyone, they said, thanks to last year's active hurricane season. Tourists and groups didn't plan trips to our usually Sunshine-y State for fear storms would return. Katrina, Rita and Wilma proved them right.
Keating pointed to successes happening in Ybor. The popular Acropolis Greek restaurant is expanding into the space next door, a coffee shop is opening next to Centennial Park and a sushi place is headed to Seventh. And, in an apparent fit of Ybor-loves-anything-Greek, Taverna Opa is spending a bundle on a restaurant and bakery. (Let's hope it doesn't snuff out Acropolis.)
That offers some comfort to the Romeos, who own the coffeehouse building and plan to lease it to another small business. Depending on what happens in Ybor, they hope to restore the building from one story to its original three and, possibly, add residential units.
For now, it's on to other things in other places.
THE LAST DROP: Tens of thousands will invade Ybor City on Saturday for Guavaween, many of them first-timers or families. If they like what they see, they should give the businesses some help and come back.
