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Everybody's Business

Spa makeover at old house takes time

By MICHAEL CANNING
Published March 31, 2006

It's getting increasingly crowded on South Tampa's day spa scene, so it wouldn't hurt a new entry to have something that stands out.

How about inhabiting a 4,400-square-foot, 1917 vintage house that once housed baseball great Dizzy Dean and later a business called Artsiphartsi?

Posh on Kennedy Beauty Spa Lounge, an offspring of Posh beauty salon on Bay to Bay Boulevard, is taking shape in the iconic old house at 2717 W Kennedy Blvd. Posh owner Carmen Lee Sargeant had hoped to open in September, but complications such as termite damage and asbestos removal have pushed the opening date tentatively to this September.

Sargeant still planned to make Posh on Kennedy a swank clinical day spa. The menu will include Botox, Restylane facial filler treatments, laser hair removal, photo and oxygen facials, medical-grade skin peels, and a hyperbaric chamber for oxygen therapy, along with traditional salon services.

During the protracted buildout, Sargeant decided to add a couple's suite, a rooftop deck, women's and unisex outdoor courtyards, a sauna, showers, locker rooms and a pedicure suite. She was also considering offering yoga classes in the lushly landscaped courtyard, where Artsiphartsi's eclectic mix of art and crafty decor was once displayed.

More of it filled the old two-story house until Artsiphartsi owner Carmen Smith decided to shift her business to a Web site, www.artsiphartsi.com, and sell the property to Sargeant in early 2005.

NICHOLSON GOING TO THE DOGS: A longtime tenant at Old Hyde Park Village, Nicholson House eclectic gift and decor shop is closing Sunday.

"We're not getting enough traffic here,'' manager Charlie Purcell said, "so we're just going to consolidate everything at our International Plaza store.''

Everything that doesn't sell at the Village store, that is, which has items marked down 50 percent.

Downtown Dogs, a dog and cat boutique that has occupied a small section of Nicholson House since August, will take over the 2,000-square-foot space. Downtown Dogs owner Rene Neff, who also worked part time at Nicholson House, said her newly expanded store should open by May 1.

The extra space will allow Neff to add cat items. Otherwise, Neff will carry her same selection of high-end dog accessories and supplies, including rhinestone tiaras, doggie hiking boots, high-heeled shoe plush toys with spoofed designer names such as Jimmy Chew, Dolce Grrrbana and Bark Jacobs and dehydrated dog snacks that look like sushi.

She planned to add gourmet bakery dog treats, including cannolis, doughnuts and peanut butter cups.

THEY MAKE HOUSE CALLS: Doctors, we're talking about.

One to One Pediatrics is scheduled to open Monday. Its doctors, Maria Ortiz-Tweed and Yim Lam, will visit patients' homes in South Tampa, Citrus Park, Westchase, Carrollwood, and Avila. Their office is in Oldsmar

Ortiz-Tweed said they hoped to build a client list of a maximum 300 patients each. That's far fewer than what a typical office doctor might handle.

"We want to spend more time with the patients,'' Ortiz-Tweed said.

The doctors will offer house calls from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Laptops will give them fast access to electronic medical records.

Services will include prenatal visits, sick and well child visits, vaccinations, hearing and vision screenings, suture and staple removal, blood tests, urine and pregnancy tests, and nonsurgical foreign object removal.

If you have to ask about that last one, you're not a parent.

The doctors will charge an annual fee, plus a la carte fees for individual services.

Ortiz-Tweed and Lam most recently practiced at the Citrus Park office of the Pediatric Health Care Alliance.

One to One Pediatrics' number is (813) 814-2025.

Do you know something that should be everybody's business? E-mail mikecanning@hotmail.com or call 226-3394.

[Last modified March 30, 2006, 14:28:31]