The view on Drew

Franchises and big-box stores it's not. In this eclectic jumble, some struggle.

By EILEEN SCHULTE, Times Staff Writer
Published August 20, 2007

CLEARWATER

Mars, Saturn, Comet and Orion. The celestial-themed avenues link Drew Street to its mighty sister to the south, Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard.

Although the two thoroughfares hold hands, they are worlds apart.

With six lanes and an attitude, Gulf-to-Bay is a carnival of chain restaurants and stores.

Drew, by comparison, is a scrappy four-lane street lined with neighborhoods and quirky mom-and-pop businesses. It has only one fast-food restaurant: Subway.

Running east-west from McMullen-Booth Road to the Gulf of Mexico, it carries more than 23,000 vehicles per day.

Drew Street's business district is about 2 miles long, starting near St. Petersburg College to the east and ending at Duncan Avenue to the west.

Like Gulf-to-Bay, there are scores of businesses. But Drew Street's merchants tend to cater to niche markets, not mass markets.

On Drew, you can buy groceries from Central America, hormone-free beef, exotic birds, stylish hats, ski boots or a custom-made guitar. You can have your teeth drilled, your car repaired or your shoes resoled. You can get a bike, a tattoo or a bridal gown.

It is a street with a personality and energy all its own.

"Gulf-to-Bay is a highway," said Marie Kelly, an employee of Athena's Bridal Boutique. "Drew is a street."

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The street was named after John W. Drew, a former Clearwater mayor who came to the area on a wagon in the spring of 1873 from Mobile, Ala., said Bill Wallace, immediate past president of the Clearwater Historical Society.

Years ago, Drew Street was home to a gladiolus farm, a dairy, a winery and lots of orange groves.

Then in the middle part of the last century, a developer noticed the area's rolling beauty, carved out a new neighborhood and called it Skycrest, naming it for the higher elevation of the area.

The developer started dubbing the roads Cirrus Avenue, Pegasus Avenue and Nimbus Avenue.

"They wanted to give the impression of being high (up)," said Mike Sanders, a local historian, real estate agent and author of Clearwater: a Pictorial History. He has a brochure from the builder boasting its 76-foot elevation. "They wanted to jazz things up."

* * *

In recent years, several big road projects have strained the relationship between Drew Street's merchants and their customers.

The road itself underwent a $5.2-million expansion in 2003. It also was heavily affected by a $30-million project to put an overpass at U.S. 19, which was completed last year, and the Keene Road expansion finished in 2004.

Plus, business owners say, since the Clearwater Memorial Causeway opened in August 2005, much of the beach traffic has dried up.

Because of the changes, some businesses closed, and others are still trying to recover.

"A lot of us stick together," said Dottie Jessup, who owns the thriving Chainwheel Drive bicycle store with her husband, Tom. "During the expansion and the Keene Road project, we really stuck together."

Like the Jessups, the LoPrinzi family has had a space on Drew Street for years.

Donna LoPrinzi's father, Augustino, makes classical guitars in a small building next to an auto repair shop.

Since the expansion, Donna LoPrinzi said, she has noticed more cars going by.

"It seems more commercial, like dump trucks," she said.

Whatever the vehicle, those are not the LoPrinzis' customers. Guitarmaking is a highly specialized business, and customers typically find the artisan via the Internet, word of mouth and other means.

Niche businesses like the LoPrinzis' are among the most successful businesses on Drew Street.

Hovagim "Kim" Demirdjian, owner of Skycrest Auto Service, caters to four generations of customers.

He has been in operation since May 1980.

He characterized Drew Street as "the poor stepsister" to Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard.

He said he doesn't mind the increased traffic since the expansion.

"I just hate seeing them drive 50, 60 mph," he said.

Brian Grindey, owner of Mac's Sports store, said he is doing well. No matter the economy or road hassles, lots of people still want to buy snow gear and learn to scuba dive.

He said his business originally was on Clearwater Beach but moved in 1978 to Drew Street because the beach traffic was too heavy.

"We love it here," he said. "I've got a nice lot and trees. There are no trees on Gulf-to-Bay."

Marie Kelly has worked at Athena's Bridal Boutique for 19 years, and she said it seems to her that Drew Street has deteriorated.

"The outside of the businesses have become shabbier," she said. "A lot of the well-known businesses have moved."

Kelly said Athena's was able to weather the road construction and even expand. Because of the business' name, it used to cater to mostly Greek clients, she said. But lately, the business has seen an increase in Hispanic shoppers.

"Drew is much more ethnic (now)," Kelly said.

In the same strip center as Athena's is Jose's restaurant, owned by Gloria Diez and her family for 17 years.

"My business almost closed down during the construction," she said. "People didn't want to come here because of the mess."

Although business has picked up a bit since the expansion ended, Diez said she's still trying to get back on her feet.

"We're doing okay at lunch, but dinners are slow," she said.

Also suffering is Steven Esposito, owner of Pets Unlimited.

"We seem to have lost business and gained a little more traffic," he said. "Clearwater has taken the beach traffic and funneled it to Gulf-to-Bay."

He said he also lost customers when PetSmart, a national retail pet store, opened at Clearwater Mall.

"We're heading toward our 50th anniversary," Esposito said. "But it seems every year is getting a little bit harder."

Isay Gulley, who owns I & M Classy Hats & More with her daughter Michelle Holmes, started her business on Drew Street in 2003.

She said business is steady. Women, especially those who belong to the Red Hat Society, still wear hats to church on Easter. Men still wear derbies, fedoras and porkpies.

But she said she would like to see "more of a theme" on Drew Street.

Gulley said when you're a business owner at that location, "you're kind of like on an island."

"You pretty much have to go at it alone," she said.

A year ago, she and her neighbors tried to start a merchants association, but it didn't take off.

Now she would like some outside support.

"I would like to see some attention paid to Drew Street," said Gulley, president of Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services. "You don't hear of the businesses on Drew Street marketed as they do some of the other businesses in other parts of the city."

[Last modified August 19, 2007, 22:04:48]