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Mood frothy as shop stays put

The owners of Pura Vida coffee shop worried that they might have to relocate once their lease on city property is up . Then, they got a call.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published October 18, 2006

LARGO - Even before the white Ford Ranger rolled up to the window Monday afternoon, Danny Strickland called out, "Smoothie!"

Dramatic - and certainly appreciated.

"I love this place," said Christy Watkins, 34, after ordering a blueberry pomegranate smoothie at the Pura Vida drive-through coffee shop, as she does almost every day.

Meanwhile, Strickland, 36, and his brother, Eddie, 34, waited to find out if their new landlord, the city of Largo, planned to renew their one-year lease on the shop.

In January, the brothers opened the gourmet coffee shop at 500 West Bay Drive, much like the ones they enjoyed in their hometown of Grants Pass, Ore.

"One of the reasons we got into this is that we couldn't find any really good coffee," Danny Strickland said.

Then three weeks ago, the city purchased the shop and the parcel next door for about $700,000, raising doubts - until Monday, at least - about the future of the property.

"It would be a shame for them to close us down," Danny Strickland said. "We've become the community coffee shop."

About an hour later, City Manager Steve Stanton said the city planned to let the business renew its lease. The city has bought about 15 parcels on and near West Bay hoping to market them down the road to developers.

"It's not as if we're going to be tearing buildings down next week," Stanton said.

The brothers said they were relieved.

So was customer Derri Davisson.

"I think that's great news," said Davisson, 49, a Realtor who stops by twice a week for a coffee with cream and vanilla syrup.

About 15 minutes later, Cathy Dixon pulled up to the window.

"I want a ..." Dixon said, starting to order.

"... mocha ..." said Eddie Strickland.

"... latte nonfat," Dixon said, finishing the sentence.

"These people are like your family," said Dixon, 43.

The brothers named the business Pura Vida, meaning "full of life," an idea which comes from comes from their Costa Rican heritage, they said. Their mother, Hilda, is a Costa Rican native.

They also call their shop Strickland's because most people don't know what "pura vida" means, they said.

Danny lives in Brandon, and Eddie lives in Westchase, but both said they would like to keep their business in the area, even if the city markets the site to a developer.

"If they want to build some sort of high-rise," Danny Strickland said. "We'll see if we can get in the lobby."

Times staff writer Lorri Helfand can be reached at lorri@sptimes.com or 445-4155.

[Last modified October 17, 2006, 22:46:08]