Tag Archives: journalism

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Tampa Bay tech entrepreneurs say Amazon workplace is more the norm

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times

amazon

A recent New York Times report about the workplace culture of online retail giant Amazon sparked intense debate about the Seattle-based company’s cultlike enterprise.

Brutal tales of fierce employee competition, 24/7 work cycles and unforgiving denials of requests for time off may not be the norm for every growing company. But millennials working in the tech industry in Tampa Bay were unfazed by the report. It felt more like a lecture from Dad: old fashioned, out of touch and very yesterday.

Answering text messages from bosses after midnight and logging 80-hour workweeks isn’t a big deal to many young people working in fast-growing, innovative industries, some entrepreneurs say, because technology has made it easy to be “wired in” all the time.

“I haven’t figured out a way to disconnect. If you find a way to not be on your phone at all times, please let me know,” said Daniel James Scott, executive director of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum. “The challenge is looking at how the technology we have is changing how we work all the time, and adapting to that culture and the new level of data that’s available at our fingertips. It’s a bit of a mystery to me how to balance that.”

Read more here.

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Bonefish Grill struggling as diners’ preferences change

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times

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Bonefish Grill — intended to be the engine powering the growth of Bloomin’ Brands restaurant portfolio — is in dire need of a tune up.

CEO Liz Smith acknowledged Tuesday an alarming second quarter drop in Bonefish sales, down 4.6 percent, and traffic, down 7.8 percent.

Smith blamed an expanded menu at the seafood restaurant chain that added “too much complexity” and ultimately “compromised the core dining experience and service suffered.”

She said the company plans to focus on what made Bonefish Grill successful in the first place: the chain’s “polished casual heritage,” and its “fish expertise.” And the Bang Bang Shrimp isn’t going anywhere.

Outside experts say Tampa’s homegrown seafood chain faces bigger problems than its menu.

Read more here.

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Stores like Bass Pro Shops and Restoration Hardware add restaurants and bars

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times

bass pro

How about a glass of wine to celebrate the $11,230 purchase of a Parisian burnham leather recliner from Restoration Hardware?

 At the new Restoration Hardware store opening in International Plaza this fall, shoppers won’t have to go farther than the three-story retailer’s rooftop garden bar for some wine and hors d’oeuvres. Tampa is among the first cities in the country to get a Restoration Hardware gallery store concept, which is currently under construction next to the Capital Grille at Bay Street. When it opens in November, Restoration Hardware will be one of several retail chains in the Tampa Bay area that let customers eat and drink where they shop — a trend that has been revived by names like Nordstrom, Bass Pro Shops, IKEA and others in recent years in an effort to give shoppers more reasons to come to brick and mortar stores.
The basic proxy is that the longer you keep people in the store, the more stuff they’re going to buy,” said Steve Kirn, executive director of the David F. Miller Retailing Education and Research Center at the University of Florida. “They want you to linger longer and take in the sights, tastes and smells you’re not going to get from an LED screen if you’re shopping online.”
Read more here. 

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Publix among companies challenged to retain millennial workers

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times

publix

For years, Publix Super Markets captured accolade after accolade for being one of the best places to work in the United States.

After all, the Lakeland-based grocery chain makes a contribution to each employee’s retirement account in the form of Publix stock every year. With more than 177,000 employees in six states, nearly 10,000 have worked for the company for 20 years or more, which is significant for a company of its size. Publix keeps a running, competitive list of the top 200 employees with at least 40 years logged with the company.

But like many other companies, Publix is struggling to come up with new ways to keep the millennial generation engaged — and employed for the longer term.

“Millennials lived through the economic crisis in 2007 and beyond. They saw their parents and other family members get laid off, so their perception of loyalty is very different,” said Moez Limayem, dean of the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business. “They expect companies to keep them engaged, and if they’re not getting that, they’ll leave.”

Read more here.

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News Writer of the Year by Gatehouse Media

Justine Griffin was awarded the News Writer of the Year award for 2014 by Gatehouse Media, the parent company of the Herald-Tribune Media Group for the “Best of GateHouse 2014” awards, which included entries from newspapers across the media player’s hundreds of publications.

“Justine Griffin’s first-person report on egg harvesting is so different, so deep in detail, and such a good story that it alone pushes her to the top of a very competitive field. It’s a gutsy move to undergo a risky procedure and write about virtually every detail,” the judges said.

Third place in the projects category went to business writer Griffin for her first-person story about the pitfalls of egg donation, “The Cost of Life.”

Griffin also won second place for “Multimedia Journalist of the Year.”