Closed for business: the Tampa Bay story
July 24, 2008 at 2:09 pm by Wayne GarciaCoupla tales from the front lines of the economic disaster that is Tampa Bay.
First, good news!!! Our housing market is so bloated with inventory and our houses are losing so much of their value that we made the Today Show’s segment on “Housing markets where you can rape the shit out of the current owners/the bank because of the market slump.”
Now the bad news: more and more restaurants are closing. I drove over to the Boston Market on Kennedy Blvd. to buy a chicken caeser salad but found it stripped clean and closed. The Hardee’s in Britton Plaza shuttered its door in the past few months. And now this morning I read in the Business Journal that the highly annoying steakman Sam Seltzer is closing his Brandon restaurant:
Sam Seltzer’s Steak Houses of America Inc. lost $11.5 million over the past three years due to its unsuccessful rapid expansion and reduced sales from hurricanes followed by the economic slump, bankruptcy court records say.
The restaurant chain, based in Tampa, lost $7.1 million in 2007, $3.9 million in 2006 and $528,500 in 2005, according to court filings.
To turn things around, the company closed another three restaurants on July 14.
No longer operating are locations at Brandon Town Centre, Port Charlotte Towne and Altamonte. It had already closed two restaurants in Lakeland and Palm Harbor.
Oh, and Florida leads the nation in job losses. And Tampa Bay leads Florida.
Can’t wait for Governor Charlie to get back from Europe with his socialite fiance to fix these problems. After he first celebrates his birthday at a $5,200-a-head soiree at The Breakers in Palm Beach.
