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Plumeria and pistachio
By PIPER JONES CASTILLO
© St. Petersburg Times, PINELLAS PARK -- As Marlene McCallister perused the perennials, her 10-year-old grandson, Thomas, finished up his chocolate ice cream. "We were just driving by, and my grandson saw the sign for ice cream. Ice cream and plants seems like a funny combination for a business, but it'll work for our family," said McCallister, a 22-year resident of the city. "There's no other place like it," said James "Sluggo" Brickley, who, along with John "Spike" Cale, opened Sluggo and Spike Ice Cream and Nursery at 6289 Park Blvd. on June 1. It encompasses both of their passions: ice cream and plants. "People can come in and get dessert while they get Florida-friendly plants," said Brickley, who operated a dry-cleaning business in Illinois before moving to Pinellas Park this year. Outside, bougainvillea ($9 to $35), plumerias ($15 to $500) and desert roses ($20 to $60) dot the landscape. Inside, a full-service ice cream parlor is in operation, selling sundaes, banana splits and cones filled with ice cream distributed by Working Cow Ice Cream of Largo. In between, water gardens are on display next to redwood benches for customers. Workers at the business try to be experts in flora and ice cream. One shift, they water hibiscus, and the next, they make sundaes. "I wouldn't say I'm an expert yet, but Sluggo has taught me a lot about plants," said Linda Radwan, one of the four employees. Brickley, 50, and Cale, 69, both Chicago natives, have been friends for more than 25 years. Cale got his start in the food industry with a Vienna Hot Dog Stand near Chicago's north side in the 1950s. "I moved down first, 13 years ago," said Cale, who also operates two ice cream trucks in Tarpon Springs. "We kept in touch by playing golf and through friends." The partners of Sluggo and Spike invested $30,000 in the venture, renovating the building for the ice cream parlor and setting up the nursery. "I believe Pinellas Park has tremendous investment opportunities," said Brickley. "I'm real excited about being here. We're making a commitment to Pinellas Park." Sluggo and Spike is in the city's redevelopment area, and a landscape company and ice cream business seem to fit well together, said Susan Walker, business and neighborhood development director for Pinellas Park. "A group of us from the city visited when they first opened. We discussed ways they could generate additional traffic, like signage, and they've put it into play," she said. Along with dual signs touting ice cream and plants, another eye-catcher for passers-by is the business' name. "The name Sluggo and Spike is a throwback to my youth," Brickley said. "We've always called each other Sluggo and Spike. I was a slugger in baseball as a kid, so Sluggo was my nickname. I started calling him Spike because of his basketball abilities. When we thought of naming the business, the whole ice cream idea took me back to when I was a kid, so Sluggo and Spike worked." If you goSluggo And Spike Ice Cream and Nursery is open from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday; and 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
