B'GoSH
Two (2) exciting new B'GoSH Business Programs -- 1 for artists and
home businesses; and 1 for storefront owners -- will be announced at
the May 11 Meeting.
"Small Tampa Group Has Big Vision
Business Guild of Seminole Heights seeks to improve its community's Commercial Corridors
TAMPA, Fla., May XX, 2006 – Applauded as a "guerilla marketer" by
Seminole Heights' neighborhood activists, Sherry King of Sherry's
Yesterdaze Vintage Clothing and Antiques has become an outspoken leader for the commercial revitalization of the area. Her most recent tactic was to form the Business Guild of Seminole Heights (B'GoSH), a 40+ member organization that has provided a forum for the community's business owners and artists to share their viewpoints and concerns for the area. The group is also helping to unify its members' resources and efforts with a goal of accomplishing key projects based on priorities.
"B'GoSH's members realize the strong potential that Seminole Heights can become a commercial destination for people from all areas – not just Seminole Heights," stated King, who actually moved her business from South Tampa to her current Seminole Heights location in YEAR. "B'GoSH is eager to tackle the priority issues our members have identified, such as the beautification of our commercial corridors, lack of parking and the absence of co-marketing amongst most area businesses."
B'GoSH's next General Meeting, which is open to all of business
owners and artists interested in the improvement of Seminole Heights, is being held at the Katherine Malone Center, 5202 N. 12th St. on Thurs., May 11, 2006 at 7 p.m. At the meeting, two new B'GoSH revitalization programs will be unveiled and guest speaker Jason Busto – a current advocate and activist for West Tampa's commercial development – will speak of his experiences and lend advice to the group.
For more information about B'GoSH visit www.bgosh.org or contact Suzanne Prieur, B'GoSH's Marketing Committee Chairperson at (813) 610- 5255 or Sherry King, President of B'GoSH at (813) 231-2020.
Thanks,
Jay McGee
B'GoSH VP"
35 comments:
+Seminole Heights is already a commercial destination for people from all over the bay area. Look at all the car lots / repair shops, lawyers offices, doctor,dentist, engineering, electric contractors, printing, mailing, sign, pest control, commercial bakeries, antique shops etc. these businesses now getting there business from outside SH. If they depended on SH they would go the way of Coffee Bean, Rigo's, Romans,New York & on and on. Food establishments require the most local traffic and you see what happens to them.
Why are artist grouped with home based businesses, I thought they had studios? I quess you are thinking ahead as we are seeing rents increase artist won't be able to afford a studio.
I am a small retail business owner in Seminole Heights and I have just about had it with all the things that are supposed to be getting done around here. I am planning hard to get OUT of this area. I have labored 4 years to get my business established and I see an absolutely minimal amount of new faces come through my door from other areas. I do advertise by the way, and that is just a plain waste of money. In fact, the last three people that came in today were 1. A neighbor who is closing end of June, 2. Another Heights Business owner who will be closed by the end of this month and 3. One who closed 2 months ago. The concensus is that the general population don't give a hoot about small business, they would prefer CVS and Walfart to take over every corner, and buy their furniture at Rooms to Throw. My future is on the internet!
Thank you all for this important dialog about the business problems of Seminole Heights.
Jaded1 is correct that those of us working to get the Business Guild of Seminole Heights (BGoSH) off the ground are interested in tackling these very issues. There's only a few of us, so far, working very hard in our 'spare' time and we need more interested parties to come join us and be part of these efforts.
Writing comments on this blog is a great start.
I invite you all to bring your passion, ideas and calls to action to make these things we want for our business district happen.
7:00 tonight!!
Sherry King, BGoSH Prez
Farmers market? Art festival on central avenue? Get real jaded they are not businesses. everyday in SH business is happening and money is being made. In SH there is no place to walk to a business. are you ready to take out houses & encroach on the residential area for a pretty business shopping district ( this isn't hyde park), shops & restuarants you can walk to? We need as many used car lots as the market will bear. They make money and pay more rent than most shops/ and restuarants could afford to pay. They might be ugly but they are better than vacant property, & they have been here long before most of us.
Hey why would i spray paint Starbucks. All i'm saying is the car repair shops-- brakes/muffler/ oil change/ trans shops/ car lots/ motorcycle shops etc pay there people 2-3 times the wages your average restaurant, Ant.shop or cutesy retail pays. And some of those people live in this neighborhood. I'll repeat my ? Are you ready to encroach into the residential to make a pedestrian friendly commercial area? The lots in this area are to small to support it without encroachment. Hey people walk to Savalot and the OSHNA battled to stop that redevelopment - who would have thought a grocery store would have caused such a uproar. when i see it today even on its worst day it looks better than the dump that was there. People walk to starbucks. Where else would you want to walk to?
Grow up? Bite Me!
I'm definitely skeptical about the claim that the car lots make money.
They could just be sitting on the property as a tax loss. Not a bad plan to let your real estate appreciate while your "business" takes a loss as a tax benefit.
I find it hard to believe 20 used car lots in a 3 mile radius are all making money. No way, sorry.
And I really could care less how long they've been in the neighborhood. They bring nothing to the table, either aesthetically or economically. Trying to frame them as a economic engine that pays taxes and salaries is truly laughable.
Please, please, please let Sunny Day sell for a high price so the rest of these so-called businesses follow suit.
I hope Sunny day sells for a high price to. Unfortunitly it will probably be another car repair/ sales business because they will be the only business that can afford it. They are making money or they wouldn't be in SH. No business wants to lose money for a tax benefit! Pull up the big lot on fl ave. on the property appraiser web site. Look at what they pay in Prop. taxes. Jadded please spell out loa tzuh. I'm old & sweet, Not an idiot !
Here's little lesson for you.
People who own multiple business ventures can take a loss from one business and deduct it from another business or from any other earnings be it salary or wages.
The loss can also be used to offset income and reduce taxes in another year.
So yes, many businesspeople with multiple interests run a business at a loss. A smart accountant can make the numbers work.
And property taxes have nothing to do with how much money a business makes, they have to do with the value of the property.
These used car lots are not happy little businesses designed to solve the transportation needs of low income residents. It's much more complex I'm sure.
Let's talk about the wonderful businesses on FL and Nebraska. The "muffler" shop on Neb raska is currently trying to kill a grand Oak. It is blacktopping over the right of way and consistently has its customers park on the sidewalk. The used car lot on Florida thinks its nicer to have "razor wire" around it's 6' high chain link fence than to put an alarm in its building. The fireworks store on Florida stores explosives in unattended semi trailers and wonders why anyone would care. The auto repair shop on Nebraska pours its oil down the city sewer or just sweeps/mops it into the street. The used car lot on Florida is a front for prostitutes that work Nebraska so. of Hillsborough. No, I don't think we need these businesses. We need more like Abuelas that are meticulously clean and the employees are polite to the customers. We need businesses that price their goods reasonably, unlike some in the 'hood. We need good customer service and decent food. Not criminals, lousy service, rude employees and people who still have their brains in the 60's and 70's when SH was a mess.
Are the car lots the only businesses in the area trying to take a loss for tax purposes., or do other businesses do this to. Are the Bgosh business's doing this, you know running there bus. at a loss. Sounds like fuzzy math!
I think we are all getting away from the point here, personally I think most of the used tire, used car lots etc will eventually whittle down to just a few, the fact is that they are so obtrusive and ugly! If a home had all of that junk out front, code enforecement would have a field day. Why can't these businesses be forced to "beautify"? There are at least three grocery stores that I can think of between the river and Osborne that are filthy, the parking lots covered in oil and litter, and the buildings need painting! Can someone educate these people. Paint is frikkin cheap! I would like to see something done with the "Praise Cathedral" too - been past there on Sundays? Not much praise going on! Is it storage for used clothes and krap - is it really a church?? How about a Majestic?? Another Tampa Theatre would be killer! Kudos to the people who took over the building opposite. I believe now a printers and (is this true?) soon to be Pizza and beer garden establishment. What a vast improvement! Of course the one way system just sucks below Highland. What mental midget decided "oh let's divert traffic away from a commercial corridor and send it through a residential area." Fuxkwits. I don't think there's much hope of any improvement anywhere below Osborne down to MLK. It's HORRIBLE. A few trees would be in order, what a difference that would make! Maybe we could all start an investor club and buy some of these dumpy places out!
Paint Is frekkin cheap?
Don't try painting your building yourself. It's illegal, it must be done by a licensed contractor with permits pulled.
materials/ permits, W/comp/ insurance/labor
gets expensive real quick.
As the City notices so little around here, I'd just go ahead and do it anyway.
Oh and can someone please tell me what Pam Iorio has done around here? Sandy Freeman did more in a week than this old tart has done in a year!
Pam Iorio is a 21st Century panderer who many consider to be the Mother of No-doism.
What exectly is the business guild doing? They apparently formed by-laws and committees. I saw something about improving the corridors from Rick Fifer while he was the treasurer of the group. Then he was gone. I heard he was pushed out. Thats too bad. He may be a pain in the ass at times but he actually has accomplished stuff in seimonle heights over the years. Are there 40 members? Florida and Nebraska need less talk and more action.
Oh, there you are Rick. I was wondering where you went! That was a good job of anonymous self-promotion, with a little bit of misinformation thrown in for good measure.
I know Rick, he's to ballzy to go anonymous. Go to their website. I think they have 12 members, hopefully they have all paid members.
After Thursday's meeting, BGoSH now has 22 paid members. I don't know where the quoted "40" came from.
Life is too short to deal with nasty people so I usually read but seldom comment.
I know, me not comment?!
I visit the blog fairly regularly and sometimes comment...even anonymously. While I may have a very good idea who brought my name into this...but you know what they say about assuming.
As to the posting, leaving was my choice because as I said in the beginning of MY post...life is too short. The rest, well I guess I've been called worse than a "pain in the ass" in my almost 15 years in some of the neighborhood.
BTW to Sherry...the 40 members...that was in the press release that Jay submitted at the beginning of this thread. The 7:15 am post sounded just so familiar...
My view remains that dual business groups are counter productive. No different than what I have voiced at BGOSH or to those involved in the (SHBA)Alliance.
It would be nice if everyone could just check their egos and agendas at the door. But who knows... if we didn't have the egos (even those I strongly disagree with) even less would get done.
-Rick Fifer
Other than the business alliance signs that went up what 5 years or so ago - what has the alliance done - I've only heard about the "ego" take over by Jeff Craft and Joslyn Myers - if it wasn't on their priority list then it did not see the light of day......is that the type of business alliance the neighborhood needs - I say give BGosh the support it needs and if it works to merge the 2 then work toward that goal - but Rick you are correct - egos- leave 'em at home - if you need your own little kingdom then stay home and play with yourself.
To clarify way back in these postings to the anony poster regarding SAv-aLot and Oshna - they did not oppose the redevelopment of the location - what was opposed was the commercial access to the side residential street. It is a stance that was taken after talking with the homeowners that live and are affected by the cut-through traffice in their immediate area - OSHNA is not anti-business. Remember their support for Starbucks???
To whoever keeps complaining that their buisness was not supported by Seminole Heights... Did you ever condider that your buisness just sucked rather than it was the "nieghborhood's fault" for not supporting your sucky buisness? If you can't make it here, you won't make it somewhere else. The rent is cheap and the neighborhood does it's best to supprt good buisnesses. Move out so someone good can move in. Starbucks isn't complaining!
I'm complaining about starbucks. 8.49 for 2 coffee's. Man that's steep.
In regards to Savalot's Commercial Access to side street -- they already had it -- Kash n Karry had it for years and Savalot needed to keep it. They wouldn't redevelop without it. The lack of support from oshna was disappointing. It seem to me it was more about discrimination, now I see the same neighbors who said " nobody from this neighborhood shops there", shopping there. When they need donations for a neighborhood party they ask savalot and get there stuff donated.Get over it! The right side won on this one. I think the savolot project was a catalyst for the development of Starbucs
Who's complaining about lack of neighborhood support? This neighborhood always supports it's businesses even crappy ones.
With Seminole Heights business Alliance -- your partially right. The boards is somewhat burned out from attending commercial overlay district meetings for the past 2 yrs. Something that most Bus owners are not that interested in. The majority fail to see the importance - and feel like a zoning change won't help their business. With CI zoning you can open Shops/ Rest/ retail anything you want right now. This won't happen because of one thing - money. The car lots & repair shops can and do pay more rent than a shop or rest. can afford to pay.
A large percentage of SHBA members are brick and mortar business's and commercial property owners. Artist and home based businesses aren't SHBA's focus - so maybe 2 business groups are needed.
Alot of shba members are to busy to invest time in projects - all they do is send a membership check and say go for it! So if you have a project or want to do something for the neighborhood especially the commercial corridors contact Jeff Craft or email adprint@tampabay.rr.com. As Jeff Craft would say"the most important thing is to be a good neighbor"
Anon poster above -
I'm sorry to see it's a right side/ wrong side issue with you and many others- I think that is where we ALL need to continue to work for the neighborhood together. The residents/homeowners have to live with the results of a business activity be they positive or negative and a business will certainly go much further with the support of the surrounding neighborhood. I know the OSHNA decision was not based on racial issues - many of us choose to live here and don't have any racial issues - the makeup of the area has not radically changed since many of us have moved here - if we had those issues we would not even have considered living here - don't go that route.
Again, just because something has existed for years does not make it right - many of the current issues with commercial properties are a result of being built before code was applied in the 40's-50's. Does that give a car lot or a body shop the right to paint cars with out a paint booth or leave trash piled all over the lot they pay for just because they are zoned commercial and pay their rent - no of course not! I think there would be fewer issues with the commercial properties if they made a half a** attempt to be a good neighbor and not have car haulers using the residential streets, block the streets for hours at a time as they unload and have the phones ring on loudspeakers - yeah they have always done it this way but we have ceased to be a slumlord/absentee owner neighborhood for many years and now have individuals that truely care about the neighborhood. Seminole Heights is not anti-business - walk your neighborhood and ask - what we are is anti-business for those with their heads up their butts who only want to do it their way because that's had they have been able to do it since they opened here years ago. Times change.
Sav-a-lot had nothing to do with Starbucks building here- it was the location to the interstate access that was the driver - ask the developer - ask Starbucks - that is their new business model - not a new sav-a-lot - which by the way reinforces the old stats thay say we are a low income neighborhood that would not/could not support anything other than a buy here pay here car lot or another pawn shop.
It's sad that the business alliance members only want to continue to take and expect things to be done for them and not be willing to give. Many of us lead full busy lives that live in the neighborhood but still take the time to be active for positive changes in our respective areas and neighborhoods and associations - ask the people that were going out on "hooker patrol" for hours at a time after a full day at work - thye were told Nebraska has always had hookers and always will - that they were wasting their time - well their "wasted time" has made a major difference in my area and I thank them for wanting to take the time to make a change -too bad if the business owners are busy - if they want positive change then they need to get up off of their checkbooks and make a difference.
Look at the neighborhoods in other citys where the commercial areas are successful in neighborhhoods like ours - it is a working together effort between the businesses and the homeowners that makes it happen.
The business district...a 20 year perspective
20 years ago Kennedy between UT and Dale Mabry had the same issues with prostitution and commercial blight. The downtown powers that be decided it was not in the city's economic interest to allow it to continue. When was the last time you saw a hooker on Kennedy? 20 years ago Ybor's 7th Ave was a wasteland...there was nothing between the Columbia resturant and Nebraska Ave except Masquerade, The Ritz theater (home of death metal) and the old El Goya after 5 pm. The city's power's that be wanted Tampa's answer to Orlando's Church Street. They then never seemed to find a reason to deny a wet zoning request. Yes today Ybor thrives but it lost it's distictiveness. The artist are gone and much of the non-alcohol related retail got swept away in the rush for the perpetual party.
So what has happened to Seminole Heights in those 20 years...Kash n' Karry became Save-a-Lot, the other Kash n' Karry on Florida near MLK closed, Whaley's folded into a coin laundry, U-Save became Meta market, KFC plulled out, Eckerds came in and then vanished; Ansley's, Polly-Wogg, Rigo's, Say it with Balloons, and Sugar Daddy's all came and went. That list could be much longer. While no one was looking one of the biggest ammo dumps in the city took up residence at Florida and MLK.
The biggest improvement was the clearing out of the north side of Hillsborough and that was because of DOT, if they thought that Old Seminole Heights would have successfully fought their planned widening, they probably never would have cleared it out. Yes we have had gains... Mauricio Feado's Bakery, Sherry's Yesterdaze, Forever Beautiful, Bali Trading, the rebuilt Publix, The Front Porch Grill, and Viva la Frida and now a Starbucks. This list could also be longer.
At the same time we added a half dozen new pawn shops...after all we wouldn't want the thieves who break into our homes to have to go far to fence their booty. Oh and the prostitutes, thanks to neighbors they are greatly reduced but you can still find some working the Avenue.
The commercial corridors are at best treading water. Each step forward has been accompanied by an almost equal step backward. That was the reason I encouraged Philip and Jocelyn Myers to start the Business Alliance. I won't even list the business owners I personally approached to get something going and was told they were not interested. It was an effort I started working at when I first ran for a position on the Old Seminole Heights board in 1993. It was I believe another 3 years before the Myers' gave it a go. The launching of that was met with all the positive press that the Business Guild of Seminole Heights has received...for all the Johnny-come-lately's. Hopefully, B'GOSH will have a longer useful life. Time will tell.
However, on this blog people keep trashing Jocelyn Myers because she has been the most visible promoter of the Alliance. What they may not realize is that at one point Myers Printing printed all 3 Seminole Heights newsletters and advertised in all 3. They still print "The Banner" for South Seminole Heights. Maybe they also don't realize that Jocelyn also use to solicit her clients and business contacts to advertise in those newsletters as well. Find another neighborhood business or business owner that has done more to support all 3 neighborhood groups for anywhere near the length of time that they have. By the way, they also live in the neighborhood and own 3 houses in Old Seminole Heights. It is hardly in their interest to hurt the neighborhood.
So why is she so horrible to some...because she as a neighbor and a business owner supported Save-A-Lot (I agreed with her on that as did folks in South Seminole Heights) or because she thought Walgreen's at Florida and Sligh would be worth supporting (I totally disagreed with her on that for the same reason I opposed their attempt to go in at Hillsborough and Florida). Funny how you can disagree with some people and still be friends. Others only believe in democracy when you agree with them.
So what happens to the commercial areas....more of the same. The president of the Business Alliance is only interested in property owning businesses. The president of B'GOSH wants no connection to the Alliance. Hopefully the Seminole Heights Strategic Plan will have a longer life than the city's long forgotten Neighborhood Element that was to do so much to protect neighborhoods. Long enough for both groups to begin to work together honestly. After all we are not on the path between the city's business hubs like Kennedy and we don't want to be an Ybor (at least I hope not). In polarized camps, the result will be another group in 10 years talking about how bad the first two were with still very little to show for the years lost.
Oh and before I get slammed with rude comments from anonymous posters. I am a paper pack-rat and can document through newsletters, newspaper articles, board minutes, e-mails, etc. the points I've made.
Rick
if the Business Alliance is only interested in businesses that own their property then they set themselves up to fail - how long is the list of businesses in the neighborhood that actually own the location they are in - many of the car lots and motels are owned by people that only care about getting the rent to take back to their bank in Carrollwood or where ever they live - certainly not in the neighborhood. Joslyn and Phillip live in the neighborhood - thye care personally about making a difference - Jeff Craft does not - I have been told by my partner who spoke with Jeff who said many years back that he was only interested in making things better so that he could raise the value of his property and sell and get the Hell out of the neighborhood - that sounds like someone I want working on mybehalf as a presinde of the business guild - certainly has the neighborhoods best interst at heart.
I have a friend who owns a business in that stretch of Kennedy and he chases male prostitutes away on a regullar basis.
Rick -- Thanks for telling me about the blog, this forum of idea exchange is really cool. Somebody pegged you as ballsy -- pretty good description.
As to the one of the last postings, you might be surprized at the percentage of owner occupied commercial properties in SH. from my shop south -- Heads house of music --Owner Occupied, DPG,INK--O.O., R&J AUTO's O,O., Rental Building NOT O.O., CityWide O.O. and lives in OSH. So from me to Hills. Ave 5 out of 6 are owner occupied & 2 out of 6 live in SH.
I never heard Craft say that ( he wanted to get the hell out of SH) and I know he has bought more commercial real estate in seminole heights -- so as any business person would want his investment to grow in value - is that a bad thing?
As to previous postings about SHBA not doing anything. If you have a project or idea for improving the commercial corridors let me know. We will help with funding/ volunteers & work with OSHNA, SSHCA , SESHNA or B'GoSH to improve this area. Philip Myers
Thanks for the comments Philip.
I think the bad thing is a business owner or landlord or residential owner to be only in the "take mode" or "all about me and what I can get out of it" mode - that is what needs to change. It is evident by the words in these many blog postings and the actions of many in the neighborhoods that there are those that care. It's weeding out those that don't give a damn that needs to happen. I don't care where they live, where they work or if they rent or own or what their race is - bottom line if they don't care enough about themselves to have pride in their home or their neighborhood then they may no longer be a good fit for the neighborhood. It's time for them to move on and I will be the first to provide moving boxes - there are plenty of other areas to move to where the group think is just as negative and indifferent. Here in Seminole Heights (as a WHOLE neighborhood) the group think is for forward positive actions not status quo.
Don't let the door hit ya on your way out of a great neighborhood!
Nice post by the last anonymous.
Exactly, race, economic stature, sexual preference, these things do not matter to me as far as neighbors go.
And from the tone of the posts on this blog it seems many feel the same way.
But if you can't take pride in where you live and you can't pick up trash and follow code and if your lifestyle begins to infringe on my home, then we are going to have a big problem. These are the folks everybody needs to target whether it's landlords or tenants or homeowners. I feel no guilt in making their lives miserable.
Regarding the need to have a contractor to paint your building see
http://seminoleheights.blogspot.com/2006/05/painting.html
"people who still have their brains in the 60's and 70's when SH was a mess."
Bunglady, What do you know about how Seminole heights was back in the 60's and 70's?
You were living in California back then, I was attending Hillsborough High.
I still speak to parents of some of the ppl I went to school with and they're some of the long time residents that have the most problems with your Narc club.
And they pay property taxes, own their homes and vote. What a combination to have when the next elections come around.
Thing is they're kinda' old for the activities stuff but they have plenty of money for funding it.
Sounds like more "threats" Oooooo look we're gonna take our money and influence the next election Ooooo better watch out.
I would rather those parents of your friends take their vote buyin' money and fix up their house so that code notices are not a problem.
I grew up in Tampa. In the 70's this neighborhood was equivalent to a trailor park except with poor neglected bungalows (instead of trailors) that people let fall apart around them. We need code enforcement to protect the bungalows from the people that don't have enough common sence to take care of them. Move to a new house or even a condo if you won't maintain your historic home. You don't deserve to be in one.
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