Talk of the bay: No fairy tales - Disney offering princess gowns

By Times staff
Published October 27, 2007

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With its horse-drawn Cinderella coach and five fairy-tale wedding venues to rent in vacation/honeymoon packages, Walt Disney World has been in the bridal business for years. Now the entertainment giant is making heirloom-quality bridal gowns part of its multibillion-dollar Disney Princess line of licensed consumer products. Priced at $1,000 to $3,500, the line designed by Kirstie Kelly debuted last week at Bridal Fashion Week in New York. The 36 gowns - inspired by Disney's Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Belle - will be sold through bridal boutiques worldwide.

UF students win business contest
Four University of Florida business students took first place in an international business competition this month in Singapore. At the Asian Business Case Challenge, the students competed against b-schoolers from places as far flung as New Zealand and Thailand. The UF students were asked to create and present a growth strategy for Keppel Offshore & Marine of Singapore.

Contractor suing SimDag over bills
Bad news seems to cling to Trump Tower Tampa. A day after developers of the much-delayed condo tower smoothed over a dispute with buyers, a former contractor sued to recover $965,975 in unpaid bills. Case Atlantic Co. buried underground pilings for the building in 2006. In a lawsuit filed Friday, Case said developer SimDag-Robel LLC has rebuffed requests for money. Case asked the judge to auction the property at 111 S Ashley Drive. SimDag has struggled to finance the tower, but insists it is close to securing private money from New York.

Ready for rails
What will it take for the Tampa Bay area to get a light-rail system like Charlotte, N.C., has? Vote in our poll at money.tampabay.com.