By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times
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.
Tag Archives: Justine Griffin
As Tampa Bay contractors seek skilled workers, program trains women in construction
By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times
Blanca Caudillo is good at math.
She’s the first to raise her hand with an answer in a carpentry class at the Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women in Tampa. She lights up with a smile every time she’s right.
Caudillo recently separated from her husband. On a desperate quest to find a job, she found the Women Building Futures program, a free 10-week training course hosted by the center in Hillsborough County that teaches women the skills to work in construction. She is one of 40 women who make up the program’s inaugural class, which began last month.
“Right after my husband left, everything started falling apart. My a/c broke, my car started breaking down,” said Caudillo, who lives in Plant City. It’s tough to afford these costly repairs. “I need to learn to do these things for myself.”
The construction classes aren’t easy, Caudillo said, but she’s learning. On Tuesday night, she spent three hours building the wood frame of a wall. She had to calculate and measure the proper distances to include a window and a door. The week before, she learned how to hang dry wall.
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Bonefish Grill struggling as diners’ preferences change
By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times
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.
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Tampa Bay tries to stand out in wave of lists and rankings
By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times
We are a nation of lists and rankings.
Top places to retire. Top party spots. Best beaches. Best cities for runners. Worst cities for runners. Top dining destinations. Best place to launch a business. Most romantic cities. Least romantic cities. Best cities to buy a home. Top cities for dogs. America’s sweatiest cities. (No joke; Tampa, by the way, is tops).
Lists and rankings are everywhere — our inboxes, our Facebook feeds, on nearly every website we visit.
They often include Tampa Bay cities. St. Petersburg is No. 1 for millennials in Florida. Tampa is the nation’s second-best beer town. Clearwater Beach has a bevy of “best beach” titles.
And on and on. Enough already, right?
“There’s a new list out every minute, it seems,” said Patrick Harrison, vice president of marketing and communication for Visit Tampa Bay, the tourism marketing arm of Hillsborough County. “Once the Internet took off, lists took over as the first true form of clickbait, but now you’re seeing them from lesser-known websites and media outlets.”
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Stores like Bass Pro Shops and Restoration Hardware add restaurants and bars
By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times
How about a glass of wine to celebrate the $11,230 purchase of a Parisian burnham leather recliner from Restoration Hardware?