Closed for business: the Tampa Bay story
July 24th, 2008 by Wayne Garcia in Issues & Wonky ShitCoupla 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.
Send to a friend:
July 24th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Boston Market closed a shop, and Starbucks is closing a few, and Sam Seltzer was too ambitious.
OTOH, Smoke opened recently, as did Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Grill 131, Crabby Bills, Taps Wine and Beer, Wolf’s Den, and Bamboozle Cafe. Indigo Coffee has opened another store downtown, Byblos has opened a gyro place near USF, Sangria’s should be re-opening in Seminole Heights, and rumors are that Grass Root will be opening another restaurant in Lakeland.
Maybe it’s just a matter of poor timing, but it seems like we’re trading out chains for locally-owned businesses.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Unemployment is about 6%. Avergae pay is what, 35 or 36K? Compared to an anverage home price of 175K? CPI has the largest increase in 26 years.
We can’t afford to work and live here and our leadership smiles and decalres everything is OK. Makes me ill.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
what would happen if we closed down the H1B program?
h1b visa explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H1B_visa
July 25th, 2008 at 8:15 am
I’d hardly call the closing of Hardee’s at Britton Plaza a huge economic loss. That place was bad, and by bad I mean horrible. The floor was so greasy once I almost became a slip-and-fall millionaire, and on another visit one of their “crew” was standing in the middle of the dining area having a leisurely smoke (generic cigs, I’m guessing), stinking up the entire place. Now this was before Jeb! outlawed smoking in restaurants, but I hadn’t been back there in that long.
As for Boston Market, I’m bummed. The one on Kennedy was great; they shoulda closed the one on South Dale Mabry instead. Bet the Kennedy site gets redeveloped, hope it’s not another bank.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:51 am
The loss of Hardee’s isn’t an economic disaster, but it is a sign of poor health and, more importantly, the end of my sausage biscuit addiction
July 26th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Here in Lakeland, the steakhouses have been hit pretty hard. In addition to Sam Seltzer’s, the Lone Star and Roadhouse locations have shuttered during the past couple of months. At least the local big-ticket steaklovers still have Texas Cattle Company to turn to…
And this doesn’t even include the closure of Sonic, a couple of buffet restaurants, and the bankruptcy sale/auction of the local Church’s Chicken franchisee. And part of the Starbucks closings include the location in Lakeland Square Mall.