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Guest Column

It's just coffee, but still ...

By MICHAEL CANNING
Published July 7, 2006

When a Starbucks opens nearby, what does it say about your neighborhood?

In the Seminole Heights area, a Starbucks opening Means Something.

Residents felt that way when the coffee shop was proposed two years ago. And now, after three months of business, all anybody can talk about is what the place has meant for the historic neighborhood, and what it will mean.

When they're not thronging the place, that is. At 10:30 a.m. on a recent Wednesday, nearly every inside seat was taken at the shop at 502 E Hillsborough Ave. Four cars idled in the drive-through lane. One car left a parking space, and another zipped right in. Evenings slow only a little, and the coffee klatsch shifts outside to the patio.

All God's children come for their 'bucks fix: dressed up office professionals, dressed down students, retirees in track suits, cops, firefighters, even road construction workers looking to caffeinate before their shifts on Interstate 275, just a latte's lob to the east.

"I'd say we're No. 1 or 2" in sales for the Tampa area, store manager Susan Newsome said. That's about triple what expectations were before opening, she said.

Expectations were grand - venti, even - when Starbucks developer Bill Chalmers first announced his plans in spring 2004. Considering the contrast between the neighborhood's residential and commercial profile, neighbors were doing back flips even before Chalmers bought the former gas station property.

Seminole Heights' main arteries -- Florida, Hillsborough and Nebraska avenues - are a study in car lots, old motels, pawnshops and chain link fences. A quick turn into the residential streets and suddenly it's all shady sidewalks and restored bungalows.

A few newer restaurants, shops and galleries have opened in recent years. But not enough. Heights residents want their own Restaurant Row and Boutique Boulevard. They're tired of using South Tampa's.

It's no secret that where a Starbucks opens, good things happen. Neighboring businesses get more traffic, and new businesses want to settle in next door. That notion alone gave residents the feeling that their neighborhood had arrived, even as the new Starbucks project struggled to get approval from the city.

So far, owners of the property next door, Leroy's 4x4 Automotive Center, are sitting tight. Ned Dean, husband of owner Merry Willis, said a deal last year to sell to Chalmers fell through. Dean says the lot will still sell for the right price, and he can't help but notice how they're packing 'em in next door.

"It's the hardest place in the world to get into and get out of," Dean said. "I tell you, they need (the Leroy's property) just for the parking."

Ginger Morgan, owner of Ginger Snips Beauty Salon behind Starbucks, said her business has increased significantly since the Frappuccinos started flowing: "We routinely have to turn people away every day. I'm working on getting more people in here to help out."

Even someone with a strong anticorporate stance like Seminole Heights resident Kelly Benjamin agrees that the advent of Starbucks has broader significance. "I do think it symbolizes a big leap for the neighborhood," said the one-time Tampa City Council candidate. "I think it will attract more of that level of commerce to the neighborhood. I just wish there could be more mom and pop businesses around this neighborhood that are really cool."

Benjamin's wish is coming true to an extent. South Tampa's Cappy's Pizzeria will open its second location on Florida Avenue this summer, and a new as-yet unnamed bistro just up the road is tentatively slated for September. These will join enduring neighborhood independents like El Taconazo, Viva la Frida Café y Galeria, and Front Porch Grille.

But a vision of Seminole Heights developing into chain-free shire of cool commercial coveys isn't shared by most. "The small mom and pop businesses, we need them as well," said Morgan, the beauty salon owner. "But they can't survive without the stronger name brand businesses."

Should Leroy's 4x4 sell, she said, "A Panera Bread would be nice."

Michael Canning, a frequent contributor to City Times, lives in Old Seminole Heights.

[Last modified July 6, 2006, 12:24:01]